Talk Bronx New York

Gay Pride Week: Bronx LGBT Community Is Increasing, More Accepted

Parkchester in the Bronx is one of the largest condominium developments in the world, and is now host to a growing population of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender residents.

Salvador Cordero and Romeo Romero, party promoters in the area, say that Parkchester and the surrounding neighborhoods of Castle Hill and Soundview have plenty of proud gays who are not hiding any more.

“I guess on a good note, the Parkchester area is really safe,” said Cordero. “Going back a couple years, it was not easy to come out without getting beat up in the Bronx or anywhere in the city. This area has calmed down and become more gay-friendly.”

At Parkchester’s Mi Gente Café, there has been an LGBT-themed party every Tuesday night for the last three years.

“Anybody who comes, whether they come dressed up in drag, as a transgender person, as a lesbian, as a bi-sexual, we have such a mixed crowd here. I have never had a problem with the community,” said Romero.

The Mott Haven area has become extremely attractive to the LGBT community as well. A few art galleries have opened here, including one inside the Bruckner Bar and Grill, which owner Alex Abeles says attracts a mixed crowd that includes gays.

“We have private parties and we have in the past two years we have had about twenty parties that were catered to the gay community,” said Abeles.

Although some say gay communities in the Bronx are becoming more open, they also say they have a lot way to go before they feel total acceptance in the borough.

“We live here too, we want services and resources too. We want to be treated with respect, not discrimination,” said Lisa Winters, executive director of the Bronx Community Pride Center on 149th Street.

Workers from the Pride Center say the recent news that the Bronx has the city’s highest death rate from AIDS is a sad reminder that perhaps not enough attention is paid to the borough’s gay community, but they are trying to change that.

“A lot of support from the local businesses around here, we have safe spots that have stickers of the gay flag. They know that we’re here,” said Kennesha Trueblood of the Pride Center. “They tell people to pick up condoms and literature about our services. A lot of times, people just don’t know that you don’t have to leave the borough of the Bronx to get services — we are right here in your own backyard.”

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