Despite rough seas for LGBTQ rights, Akron-area organizations stay the course

Less than a decade ago, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 in Obergefell v. Hodges that bans on gay marriage were unconstitutional. Recently, state legislatures across the county — including Ohio's — have passed or considered bills that would restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

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While the wave of recent attempts to roll back progress has often overshadowed June Pride Month celebrations, these groups say the tide of opposition that they are swimming against is nothing new.

"The current climate is what we're used to anyway," said Steve Arrington, chief administrator at the Bayard Rustin LGBTQ+ Resource Center and executive director of the Akron AIDS Collaborative. "We're not privileged people here," he added.

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Despite the difficult atmosphere, the Akron AIDS Collaborative (AAC), using the Bayard Rustin Center as a base of operations, is doing what it's always done: moving forward with the work.

The center at 258 W. Market St. offers a variety of services, including free weekly dinners, a free food pantry, housing assistance, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and COVID-19, and safety training for transgender people. Akron AIDS Collaborative also received an anti-violence grant from the city and now offers an LGBTQ+-oriented anti-violence program.

Recently, the AAC and the center began a capital campaign that includes a GoFundMe and several fundraising events in an effort to gather the $150,000 needed to finance a move and become tenants at community partner Equitas Health's facility at 636 W. Exchange St. The plan is to offer in-house medical and dental services through Equitas, plus a larger community space and alternative therapy options including music and art therapy.

Though the center is an Afrocentric organization, Arrington said everyone needing its services is welcome.

Stow collaboration savors 2022 victory

In 2020, the Stow Collaboration for Change (SC4C) — a social justice advocacy group — formed following a letter writing campaign arranged by organization President Miguel Cavallo. The campaign was focused around asking the school board to acknowledge that Black lives matter.

The group also has been instrumental in the push to memorialize George Garrison Jr., a Black student who died by suicide in 2003. Recently, those efforts came to fruition in the form of a memorial in Stow's Wetmore Park.

While there is still some friction between SC4C and the surrounding communities, Treasurer Aaron Yeager said there's been an increase in support.

Now, with state legislative efforts threatening to unravel progress for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning and/or queer community, Yeager said the organization's work has taken on a new urgency.

He cited SC4C's 2022 successful push for the Stow Board of Education to adopt member Pamela Wind's resolution acknowledging LGBTQ Pride and History months districtwide. The contained a number of steps designed to demonstrate support for LGBTQ+ students.

"One of them was respecting pronouns and respecting gender identity," Yeager said. "There's several things that they're working on, and they have made progress on those goals."

It's important for students to feel accepted and safe when they express themselves, he said, citing his own experience in the district.

"I'm a gay, cis(gender) man, and growing up in the school district I, personally, didn't see many LGBTQ+ students around me who were out, so I had no model to go by. I didn't come out until college," likely due to a lack of representation, Yeager said. "I want the youth to feel empowered," he added.

Equitas broadens health care advocacy for community

Columbus-based Equitas is one of the nation’s largest health care organizations serving the LGBTQ+ community and people living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS. The Akron facility currently provides provides twice-weekly medical clinics, Mobile Outreach Vehicles and more.

Equitas is moving from its home at 3094 W. Market St. to the West Exchange Street site where the Bayard Rustin Center and AAC will become tenants. The new space will provide a full-service medical center with access to primary care, specialized HIV care, behavioral health, dental services and more. The center will open in phases beginning in August. Medical and pharmacy services will become available first.

"We are the community we serve," said Anthony Clemente, Equitas' director of marketing communications. "And so, it's important for us to use our voice as an organization to advocate for folks' health care rights. We have an advocacy department that attends hearings at the Statehouse to fight anti-trans legislation, or anti-LGBTQ legislation."

Because of the ongoing amplification of those voices, Clemente said part of this year's plan is to "turn up the volume" on their advocacy, which includes being present at events in Akron.

Robert Copeland, interim CEO, echoes that sentiment.

"We are a welcoming health care organization, but we also do believe that we have to stand in the environments that we serve and fight for them," he said.

Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron LGBTQ organizations steer ahead amid cultural backlash