Archive: Around Town

Leslyn McBean Clairborne will receive the Finger Lakes PULSE Ally of the Year award on June 20 during the county legislature meeting which will be held at 121 W Court Street, Ithaca at 5:30 pm.

The founding members of Finger Lakes PULSE will acknowledge and honor McBean Clairborne as Ally of the Year, thanking her for her lifetime commitment and achievements in making progress at the County level by creating safe zones.

McBean Clairborne has insisted on providing tools for County officials and employees to learn about why safe spaces are necessary. McBean Clairborne included a commitment to end homophobia in her comments at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast held at GIAC in 2017. She attended the marriage equality celebrations and encouraged others to understand the historic significance of equal marriage rights. The rainbow flag, a symbol of acceptance and protection proudly hangs inside GIAC because McBean Clairborne took action.

McBean Clairborne is a leader in encouraging supportive practices be established in businesses by displaying a Safe Zone emblem, a recognizable symbol that guides the LGBTQ community to where it is safe to bring its business.

Tompkins County's Queer community's success relies on our own commitment and the support of committed, action-oriented allies who are willing to move through discomfort to solve challenging public safety issues. The community's allies respond to safer housing needs and services designed to market to the county's queer community. Committed allies encourage honest conversations that lead to alterations of policies and cultural beliefs that without intervention would exclude the queer community.

Finger Lakes PULSE is a multi-cultural club for members of the Queer community and its supporters.  Any marginalized group, as well as their allies may be subject to retaliation even if they act with compassion to break through barriers. It takes courage to work for liberation for people who identify as gay, lesbian, queer, bisexual, transgender, or non-binary. Queer people of color face added challenges and dangers as homophobia and transphobia are compounded by white supremacy, structural racism and white privilege and cultural taboos.

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