Northeast Ohio is home to a new LGBTQ+ organization aimed at providing support, resources and education to individuals and families alike.
Brecksville-Broadview Heights (BBH) Pride hopes to usher in changes that will help LGBTQ+ individuals feel a greater sense of belonging in these Cuyahoga County sister cities.
After a public incident in which a speaker at a local event made decidedly anti-LGBTQ+ remarks, organizers turned the negativity into positive action, creating an organization that could exist as a valued partner to local schools, businesses and churches.
“The overall goal for us is that anybody in the LGBTQ community will live here feeling they are welcome, supported and celebrated,” BBH Pride organizer Jennifer Spear said.
The Buckeye Flame chatted with Spear and co-organizer Vicki DeMar to learn more about BBH Pride initiatives and the changes the organization hopes to see in Brecksville and Broadview Heights moving forward.
The Buckeye Flame: Tell us a little bit more about your organization and its mission.
Jennifer Spear (JS): Our organization got together loosely in 2021. We formalized ourselves in 2022. We decided it was time to start an organization to raise awareness to celebrate the LGBTQ community and start to move the needle to being completely welcoming and inclusive. We have a lot of initiatives in the works to do that. We have already made some really great strides.
We hope these initiatives will better translate into positive mental health and families being more understanding and educated if their child comes out.
Vickie DeMar (VD): Our plans to carry out and meet those goals are multidimensional. We’ve made inroads into the schools and local churches; we also intend to work with the business community. There are a bunch of different facets to what we want to accomplish while covering as many bases as we can.
JS: We have come together with many different voices in our task force. We have a private Facebook group with about 100 members and a task force of 16 people with a lot of great ideas. The biggest thing is finding a way to reach people to educate and support them.
Why create this organization and why now?
JS: There was an incident that happened in our community that was unfortunate. Someone spoke at a public event and instead of staying on a message about veterans, he made it very political and made some intolerant remarks towards people of color and the LGBTQ community. It was inflammatory and shocking. There was some backlash and we asked him to apologize, but that did not happen. When this event occurred that is when we really put our plan for an organization into action. We knew we couldn’t let that voice represent the city and who we are.
VD: At this gathering there were a lot of school children, and several of them were quite upset with what the man had to say. That goes right to the core of what sparked our activism. Statistics show that half of all LGBTQ youth have seriously considered suicide, and that is something we won’t accept. We decided we are going to fight against that.
JS: Vicki is talking about the Trevor Project statistics. In communities that are more welcoming and where the LGBTQ commmunity is celebrated, the rates are drastically lower. We don’t want to be a community that contributes to the higher numbers.
What are some initiatives you hope to see moving forward?
JS: One is to work very closely with the schools to help educate the staff and provide resources that can bridge the gap between school and home to then be a resource to students. These resources might include mental health avenues, community relations and helping improve family relations. In the schools we have put out 250 ally posters. and they are going in the middle and high school classrooms. The kids can then see—these are the actions and steps I can take to be considered an ally. We want the kids not only to respect their peers, but also stand up for them. There are also pride flags in the windows of a lot of the classrooms. This demonstrates that the classroom is a safe space where students can feel welcome to come in and talk to the teacher.
Moving out towards the community, the task force for BBH Pride is being trained so that when we provide messaging and education, we are doing it in the best way possible. Also, when individuals come to us and need our help, we are able to provide an appropriate first line of support. We also intend to create curriculum that we will take to small groups that will welcome us. This might include the senior groups at the community center, different groups within the schools and businesses. Education of the entire community is a big piece of our initiative. Being able to recognize and celebrate the community through the pride festival is another big piece.
For businesses, we intend to share a list of best practices that makes the business LGBTQ-friendly. If they are following best practices, they receive an accreditation from our organization.
Is the plan to have a Brecksville-Broadview Heights Pride?
JS: We hope to have the first annual pride festival here in June. We are going to be discussing venue and date very soon, but our intention is to recognize pride month and the LGBTQ community. We will have entertainers, music, food trucks, vendors and other resources. This is going to be a family event that we hope will turn into an annual event. We are really excited about this and have a lot of ideas.
We are very strongly supported by two churches in the community, and they are a part of our task force. Our first entrance into the community has been really positive, which we are very grateful for. We were invited to the high school choir concert and we brough pamphlets, stickers and swag, and we were met completely warmly. 🔥
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