LGBT Network launching 'Pride Patrol' to attend school, library board meetings
Logo for the LGBT Network's new "Pride Patrol." Credit: Morgan Campbell
An LGBTQ advocacy group has launched a team of “Pride Patrol” volunteers who will attend school and library board meetings on Long Island to “create safe spaces,” advocates said Thursday.
More than 100 people have signed up to join the patrol, said David Kilmnick, president and CEO of the LGBT Network, during a town hall meeting Thursday night in Hauppauge.
Kilmnick said the patrol members, who will wear custom-made shirts and badges, will be “activated” to attend local meetings to counter the presence of groups like Long Island Loud Majority, a conservative group active in local school board politics.
“Their tactic is to show up at these meetings and create a sense of fear and intimidation,” Kilmnick told a crowd of five dozen. “We're going to create that safety for the people in the community, the parents, the families and the students, to get up and speak. We are not going to let these people run around anymore unfettered.”
Shawn Farash, founder of Long Island Loud Majority, declined to comment Friday.
The announcement comes just a few weeks after the Connetquot school district banned Pride flags in schools, a directive that has sparked heated disagreements on social media and in school board meetings over whether the flags’ display should be allowed in classrooms. The matter is under investigation by the New York State Division of Human Rights.
Rich Pandolfo, the father of an elementary school student in the Middle Country Central School District, said he plans to sign up for the patrol because showing up is the first step to change.
“The only way to get them on your side is to connect with them,” said Pandolfo, of Centereach. “The more that we can change people's perceptions and perspectives, I think that maybe we can actually affect some change.”
Kilmnick said his organization will also provide training to those interested in running for local library and school boards. The first candidate training academy is expected to begin after the New Year, he said.
In October, three candidates backed by the president of LGBT Network won election to the Smithtown library board, months after the board drew controversy for removing Pride Month displays from its children's rooms. That decision was later reversed.
With Robert Brodsky
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
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