FESTIVE AND FABULOUS: Miss Cissy Walken is the host of the Holiday Drag Show on Saturday, December 7 at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, where holiday events continue throughout the month. (Photo courtesy of BRCSJ)

By Donald Gilpin

In the face of widespread anxiety over increasing anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and action following the November election, the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ) will be hosting major holiday events on upcoming weekends: a Holiday Drag Show featuring Cissy Walken, Miss Stonewall Inn, on Saturday, December 7 at 7 p.m. and “Handmade for the Holidays Crafternoon” with Kyle the Craftivist on December 14 at 1 p.m.

Also, on Friday, December 6, there will be a Welcoming the Community Breakfast from 8-10 a.m. and in the evening at 7 p.m. a post-Thanksgiving folk concert featuring David Brahinsky and friends — all at the BRCSJ headquarters, 12 Stockton Street.

The BRCSJ, a dedicated queer safe space, offers many programs and events in person and online throughout the year, serving more than 10,000 area residents according to a recent BRCSJ email. On Christmas Day it will also be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. or later, welcoming anybody who “needs or wants a safe space to hang with friends and chosen fam.”

“Now more than ever we need to gather together in community and camaraderie, so please come out for these extraordinary events and as always feel free to visit our community activist hub, educational bridge, and dedicated safe space for all our LGBTQIA+ youth and seniors, our intersectional families, and all our beautifully diverse folks,” BRCSJ Chief Activist Robt Seda-Schreiber wrote in an email.

In a December 2 phone conversation, Seda-Schreiber, who was recently named LGBTQIA+ History Month Icon by the Equality Forum, and BRCSJ Queer Educator and Local Community Organizer Sara Wasserman discussed some of the challenges that the center and the LGBTQIA+ community are currently facing.

“We are at a very tender time for the queer community and for all of our diverse marginalized communities both locally and nationally,” said Seda-Schreiber. “We at Bayard Rustin Center want to serve as a bright beacon in these dark times.”

In recent weeks the BRCSJ has expanded its hours from five to seven days a week, with volunteers joining in “to host a safe space for anybody who wants and needs safety, community, and, of course, friendship and chosen family,” Seda-Schreiber added.

He continued, “Our volunteers and our community stepped up immediately and said ‘What can I do? How can I be of service?’ They are there because they know the necessity of us being together right now.”

Wasserman noted a “significant influx of visitors” in the wake of the election, “both familiar faces and some fabulous new ones really just needing that mutual support and a place where they’re safe at a time when that’s not really a given. We rallied behind what they needed, in response to what we saw.”

In the context of the new administration’s proposals, she said, “What we’ve noticed most is an overwhelming feeling of despair, a lack of hope, and a true fear for physical and emotional safety, the ability for people to continue existing as they are, being respected for who they are, being able to love who they want. Many different facets of our community are really under attack in the larger society, but our fight isn’t about anger. It’s about how to respond with resilience and love, and continue that queer joy in the face of frustration.”

Wasserman noted that since the election there has been an increase of almost 700 percent nationwide in young people reaching out to support lines and crisis centers for help and guidance.

in addition to its special events, the BRCSJ offers a free monthly mental health support group, “Prideful Minds,” in partnership with Tree of Life Counseling for LGBTQIA+ community members and allies over the age of 18. Interested individuals should email Wasserman at brcsjqueered@gmail.com.

Seda-Schreiber highlighted some of BRCSJ’s upcoming events. “What we need to do now is celebrate queer joy,” he said. “Let your holidays be a drag in the most festive and fabulous way possible.”

The December 7 Holiday Drag Show with Miss Cissy Walken is a fundraiser to support the work of the center, and Seda-Schreiber urges everyone to find more information and buy tickets in advance at rustincenter.org, because “this awesome annual event always sells out quickly.”

The following weekend, the BRCSJ will be hosting Kyle Burkhardt, “Kyle the Craftivist,” for a Holidays Crafternoon, starting at 1 p.m. December 14. “Make a glam gift for friends, chosen fam, or just for yourself,” the BRCSJ flier urges. Bracelet-making materials, gift boxes and gift boxes are all provided for free.

Visit the BRCSJ website at rustincenter.org for more information on all these events and programs.