Jun 17, 2005  |  By: JOHANNA LUNGLHOFE  | COMMENTS     

At the first meeting of a new Pride group for gay residents of Greenbelt, Md., its members adopted the slogan, “You can’t spell GreenBeLT without GBLT!” They also organized a night of socializing and a discussion about state and local issues that impact their lives.

On Monday, June 20, for the first time, Greenbelt Pride organizers and their supporters plan to gather at the New Deal Café, in the heart of their town, with rainbow flags displayed on each table. The restaurant will also be open to other customers.

“There’s never been a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered group in [Greenbelt], I think partly because people were always just very accepting,” says Greenbelt Pride member Frank DeBernardo, a longtime employee at New Ways Ministry, a gay-supportive Catholic organization in Mt. Ranier, Md.

“There was never a need to defend rights or fight discrimination,” adds DeBernardo, who organized the group’s first meeting last month. “So far, we’ve been getting a very warm reception. When members of our group have told others it was forming, their reactions have been very positive.”

Even so, DeBernardo sees the wisdom in organizing gay residents of Greenbelt to prepare, he said, for any “political backlash” that might happen at the state level.

He points out that as the gay rights movement has progressed, the number of gay residents living in towns like Greenbelt, a suburb of Washington, D.C., in Prince George’s County, Md., has increased.

“It’s no longer the day when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people feel like they have to move into the city … they can move out of the city and still develop their identities and meet others who share similar interests and struggles and joys,” he says.

Abbie Brown, 27, said she and her partner moved to Greenbelt about six months ago in part because of its gay-friendly atmosphere. They joined the group after Brown noticed one of DeBernardo’s fliers in the New Deal Café.

To get the word out about the upcoming gathering, DeBernardo distributed announcements by e-mail. He said he also left fliers under the windshield wipers of cars with gay-friendly bumper stickers, and posted them around the city.

Residents from cities outside Greenbelt, including Adelphia, College Park and Mt. Rainier, as well as several straight people, expressed interest in attending the Pride gathering. It is a small but necessary part of the process.

“There’s a strong GLBT community in Greenbelt,” he says. “It’s just not organized.”

Group member Hilary Ranney-Howes agrees.

“This is really the first time that we have come together in any sort of way,” she says.

Ranney-Howes, who is 50 and transgendered, also says members of Greenbelt Pride represent a wide range of ages and sexual orientations.

The youngest member is 22 and the oldest is 57.

DeBernardo says the group chose to meet at the New Deal Café, which Greenbelt residents call “the community’s living room,” because of its comfortable, familiar vibe and for the visibility it provides.

“What we want to do is form a group of LGBT citizens in Greenbelt — a social group, a group that would provide educational programs and become politically active,” he says.

DeBernardo estimates up to 30 people will show up Monday but that might be a conservative guess. He only expected three people to visit the Greenbelt Community Center for the first meeting, but 15 showed up.

And though the organizers have only held one meeting, members of Greenbelt Pride already are talking about participating in some of their city’s annual events later this summer. They say plans for the Fourth of July and Labor Day events are already under way.