GLBT center set to open Saturday in Sag Harbor

The Long Island Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Services Network is preparing Saturday to open its third community center, this one in Sag Harbor.

Though the group planned to establish a center on the East End in a few years, the effort was spurred by the fall 2012 suicide of David Hernandez Barros, a 16-year-old East Hampton High School student whose mother, Carmita, said was often bullied in school.

"David Hernandez Barros' suicide was an urgent reminder that has mobilized hundreds of people to say 'we cannot wait any longer -- we need a gay center of our own now,' " David Kilmnick, founder of the Long Island GLBT organization, said in a statement.

The Long Island group, created in 1993, is a collection of five advocacy groups that host anti-bullying and sensitivity workshops in more than 100 local school districts.

The advocacy group also provides counseling, mixers and other services to individuals, including youth and senior citizens.

The group has centers in Garden City and Bay Shore, but when meeting with East End residents to assess the need for programs, Kilmnick said the one thing mentioned by people of all ages was a desire for a community center.

Old Whalers' Church, at 44 Union St., will house the center for two years until the network can raise funds -- at least $1 million -- for a state-of-the-art facility. The center's grand opening -- scheduled for Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. -- will include remarks from Carmita Barros and guided tours of the center.