They way I look at it - and many people do - it's really all the more reason for us to be out and present." "We fought against it then, we worked to get the rights we currently have. "Throughout our entire history we have had challenges like this," Sauer said. "The LGBT community are no strangers to this kind of thing," said Gordon Sauer, affiliate leader of SAGE (Services & Advocacy for LGBT Elders ) Jersey City, also the president of GAAMC (Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County). More: 'Jeopardy!' champ Amy Schneider may be a game-changer for the trans communityīut if there's one thing the LGBTQ+ community knows, it's that with progress inevitably comes backlash. Looked at one way, it's been a steady stream of wins. Wade and how that could affect our community."Īnd everywhere, the increased visibility of the community in movies, TV, sports, politics, entertainment. "But there was conversation about what was happening at the national level, especially with Roe v. "Everybody was happy to see each other," he said. People were thrilled, of course, to be back celebrating after two years of lockdown. "It felt like a homecoming," Kavin said.īut coming on the heels of a leaked supreme court document that seemed to suggest a renewed assault, not just on abortion rights, but also potentially on marriage equality and other gay-adjacent issues, Pride Month 2022 - for all its glitz and glamour and high spirits - is not without a certain ominous undertone.
"It was definitely percolating in the conversation," said Rick Kavin, president of the Pride Center of New Jersey, based in Highland Park, who was in Asbury that weekend. The weather couldn't have been better for New Jersey's 30th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration in Asbury Park on June 5.Īnd yet, in this particular Pride Month, there's been something in the air.