Certain communities of gay men, youth, transgender individuals, immigrants, men of Caribbean and continental African heritage tend to be overlooked, even when they are specially impacted by social, economic and health concerns affecting Black gay men in general. Through its Community Partnership Initiative, the Network collaborates with others to build smaller and under-organized communities’ capacity by cultivating and developing local leaders, organizations, and services. The Network also develops the leadership of individual Black gay men who participate in its Leaders Group by providing opportunities for professional and personal growth.
A major component of the Network’s work to support communities and organizations that serve Black men who practice same-sex desire is the provision of trainings. The Network offers learning opportunities for communities, organizations, and individuals that address their development needs through regularly scheduled quarterly meetings, an annual comprehensive four-day Training Institute, and a Training Series open to its member delegates and board members, service providers and community members.
Currently, the Network is working with communities in New York City, Rochester, and Syracuse on diverse projects, all geared to better the lives of Black gay men and their larger communities. To learn how you can get involved in these initiatives, click on one of them listed below:
Quarterly Meetings/Training Institute
The Network convenes quarterly meetings with the delegates from our member organizations. Rotating across all of New York’s urban centers – Albany/Capitol District, Buffalo, New York City, Rochester & Syracuse – the quarterly meetings not only to serve the purpose of taking care of “network” business matters and decision-making, but also to provide workshops and trainings on emerging issues related to infrastructure development, fund development, HIV prevention, GLBT youth and young adult service needs, testing and care, and other issues related to the lives of Black gay men and other black men who practice same-sex desire. The Network also works to increase the visibility of Black gay men in each city during our the quarterly or training institute by coordinating local awareness raising events with local organizations and community members.
Fluid Bodies
is a project sponsored by the New York State Black Gay Network to improve the lives of same-sex-desiring and Trans Caribbean people living in
The project, initially funded by the New York City Council, is a partnership among Caribbean community members and providers of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, immigration, legal, advocacy and other health and human services.
The fundamental goals of the
Campaign for Black Gay Men’s Lives
Much of the work of HIV prevention from community based organizations has been about exposing and challenging homophobia and de-stigmatizing HIV. Opening dialogues within the larger Black community concerning sexuality, difference and HIV prevention has been an underlying goal of the work for as far back as the first organized effort responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Community based service organizations have struggled with producing large scale campaigns that really impact norms and attitudes mainly due to limited or lack of resources. NYSBGN proposes to convene it NYC member organizations to inform the creation of a social marketing campaign about the value of Black gay Men’s lives. It is envisaged that the campaign for Black gay men’s lives will transform community attitudes and values regarding Black gay Men in the following ways:
- Model behavior for community members
- Stimulate dialogue regarding Black gay men’s lives and community norms
- Uncovering homophobic ideology
- Making homophobia socially unacceptable
- Partnering with heterosexual groups that denounce homophobia
- Creating spaces for heterosexual peoples contribute to an ongoing campaign
The Black church is the most influential and strong standing entity in the Black community. This entity serves in many ways as the container and facilitator for much of the Black community’s value setting and mobilization efforts. Black gay men routinely experience an unprecedented level of attacks from the pulpit as well as publicly from conservative members of the Black church, primarily Black clergy. These attacks on Black gay men largely stem from interpretations of religious doctrine.
In late Fall 2004, the Network and several NYC member organizations felt the need to address the homophobic rhetoric coming from the pulpit of a few but very vocal Black Clergy. With the success of July 2005’s REVIVAL!: Victory Over Spiritual Violence Through Grace and a World AIDS Day Service, the REVIVAL! Initiative has become a force for challenging spiritual violence in
The REVIVAL! Initiative’s goals are to provide an opportunity for members of our community to be spiritually affirmed, to say that homophobia from the pulpit is spiritual violence, to highlight welcoming and LGBT inclusive congregations, and give attendees some tools to challenge homophobia and intolerance in their own places of worship. REVIVAL! Initiative is comprised of the New York State Black Gay Network, Gay Men of African Descent,
