Day to be Gay joins celebration and local activism

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

CALLICOON, NY — For the fifth year the Day to be Gay Foundation set the stage for an expressive community to celebrate their pride and, in the words of foundation President Kathy Rieser, “feel the love.”

As always, the Day to be Gay in the Catskills festival, held September 4 at the Delaware Youth Center, presented in colorful fashion the spirit and cohesiveness of the regional gay community, increasing awareness through visibility.

In addition to raising funds for charities, this year’s event also marked the successes of regional political activism. Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther presented Rieser with a Certificate of Merit from the state Assembly for promoting tolerance and understanding through the festival, which this year coincided with the publication of three books by authors from New Paltz, including Jason West, the young village mayor who married 25 same-sex couples on February 27, 2004, and New Paltz Times reporter Erin Quinn, who expanded her initial reporting on West’s civil disobedience into “Pride & Politics: The Tale of a Big Story in a Small Town.”

The prevailing wisdom coming from activists and elected officials who spoke at the festival, including West and state Senator Tom Duane, was that equal rights for gay and lesbian New Yorkers would only be secured through the electoral process, or by getting their allies elected at the town, county and state levels of government. In addition to West, Green Party candidates Rebecca Rotzler and Julia Walsh were elected to the Village of New Paltz Board of Trustees in May 2003, and the majority is now supporting three openly gay candidates running for seats on the Ulster County Legislature.

West’s new book, in which he discusses the dynamics of grass-roots political campaigns, is entitled, “Dare to Hope: Saving American Democracy.” When he performed the marriages, national politicians, including President Bush, were pushing to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban such state recognized unions. The success of this proposed countermeasure is still very real, and West still faces criminal charges that were leveled against him by Ulster County District Attorney Don Williams.

The third author, Jeffrey McGowan, introduced West and commended him for having the courage to do what he believed in and to take the heat for it. “He has no vested interest in it. He’s not gay,” McGowan said of West. “But he believed in us.” The author of “Major Conflict: One Man’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Military,” McGowan and his husband, Billiam van Roestenberg, were the first to be married by West in 2004.

Senator Duane assured the Day to be Gay crowd of his determination to secure the same-sex marriage right for his gay and lesbian constituents. “We are going to win the right for same-sex marriage in our lifetime,” he said. “It’s a right we will win in New York State.”

Duane added: “We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Kathy Rieser.”

Early in the day, Rieser said that she has always felt comfortable as an outwardly gay woman in Sullivan County. Now, she said it is common for her to see numerous gay couples when she shops at the local supermarket.

The growth of the gay community over the past decade is evidenced by the leading role its members have taken in rehabilitating older homes in Sullivan County and contributing to the tourism industry by, for example, establishing new retail and hospitality businesses, Rieser said. “All this shows the typical things we do.”

While signing copies of her book, Quinn said she observed a certain openness in the hamlet. “I feel that in Callicoon,” she said, adding that the town is “raising the bar of civility.”

Quinn said: “That’s the kind of town people are attracted to.” Van Roestenberg and Quinn said they wondered whether Callicoon could become a sister town to New Paltz, where gay couples feel accepted by residents and hold hands as they walk down the streets.

Rieser knows that communities in Sullivan County have a long way to go before acceptance of gay people becomes an element of their pride. On the local tolerance front, she said the gay community takes “five steps forward and one step back.” Even as the fifth annual festival was approaching, she said signs announcing the event were removed from several local stores.

“We can all get along,” said Van Roestenberg, who has served on the Village of New Paltz’s zoning board of appeals for four years and is currently running for the Ulster County Legislature. “I can’t wait to look back at this and say to ourselves that we don’t have to do this anymore because there will be more important issues to work on.”

As Senator Duane concluded his remarks, he said, “For everyone here today, whether you’re gay, bi-sexual or questioning, thank you for being here.”

Beneficiaries of the funds generated at this year’s festival include Circles, the gay and lesbian adolescent support program sponsored by Planned Parenthood; the Patient’s Emergency Fund for HIV and AIDS patients at Catskill Regional Medical Center; Glen Wild Animal Rescue and Just Cats; and Rieser’s own “Out Loud and Queer” radio program, which airs on WJFF Radio Catskill. All $5 registration fees collected for the festival’s Dog of the Day contest will go to Noah’s Risk, which is providing disaster relief for pets from New Orleans.