Extreme Ends of the Movement for LGBT Rights

Another weekend of reporting on Fire Island has come and gone. I am much more tan [if that's even possible], I made new friends in the Fire Island Pines and Cherry Grove and attended more than a handful of parties and fundraisers. This scene comes only four hours after I wake up in Bushwick and board the Long Island Railroad to a completely different reality. Ali Forney Board Chair and Water Island resident Kyle Merker incorporated this message into the comments he shared during an interview about the organization and it's work with homeless LGBT youth. Fire Island contains many generous and charitable people who continue to give their time and energy to a number of worthwhile causes within and beyond the movement for LGBT rights. The beautiful [and luxurious] island, however, serves as a stark contrast to the reality in which the majority of LGBT people live.

"It's very easy when you are on Fire Island -- going to the beach, swimming in your pool -- to remember not everybody has it as good as we do," Merker said in the context of the homeless youth for which he and his fellow board members and staff continue to advocate. "There are kids who are less fortunate. They are our kids."

Indeed.



From left: Sonia Cantore, Carson Kressley and DJ Lina entertain Pines residents at an Ali Forney Center fundraiser in the Fire Island Pines yesterday.