Peter's Place

I choose to be unstoppable. I am bigger than my concerns and worries. The strength of others inspires me daily. I focus on my goals. I trust my intuition and live a courageous life! As of today, 1 January 2016, I no longer am associated with the Bronx LGBTQ Center and have severed all ties to the organization. I shared this news with some of my closest friends about two weeks ago. I am the last of the co-founders to leave the Center, 3.5 years after it started -- which is fitting in a way as I was perhaps the first to organize the new organization. Having served as the Board Secretary since the Center's incorporation on 19 September 2012, my decision not to run for re-election and continue my tenure as an officer on the board of directors was announced at the annual membership meeting on 14 December 2015. This decision did not come lightly but leaves me time to work on projects that are bringing positive energy into my life. Of all the accomplishments during my te...

In 1985, +Bernie Sanders , then mayor of the City of Burlington , Vermont, granted protections to its citizens, including LGBTQ persons . This bold move was deemed to be political suicide and the end of his career in politics. But it wasn't the first time Sanders has supported LGBTQ rights. His 1970 letter advocating the repeal of laws against "deviant behavior" implies support for marriage equality Sanders's support for civil rights and of LGBTQ communities extends to the beginning of his career . Unlike others, he never had to "evolve" on his positions to support basic human and civil rights; it has been a part of his basic code of morals and philosophies from the moment his work in activism , civil rights , social justice , and ultimately, his career in politics , began. There are few individuals even in our own community who were fighting for LGBTQ equality in 1970 -- the risk for prosecution of homosexuality and imprisonment was far ...