Queens Library hosting Gay Pride Month events

The Queens Library is hosting a slew of events this June in honor of Gay Pride Month.
The month-long gay pride celebration first began in 2000, when President Clinton declared the month of June, Gay and Lesbian Pride Month.
Judy Close, a library spokesperson, said that while the library usually hosts literary events for Gay Pride Month, this year there is “a little bit more variety,” and an increase in the number of events the library is holding.
The celebration kicked off with the Pride Parade in Jackson Heights on Sunday, June 1, when the Queens Library staff handed out information about the libraries and signed people up for library cards.
The first event that the library is hosting will take place at the Flushing Library, located at 47-17 Main Street, on Saturday, June 7 at 2 p.m. This event, entitled “Persecution of the Homosexual Community by the Nazi Third Reich,” is a lecture by Richard Landman. He will discuss what happened to homosexuals during Nazi rule in Germany and in other occupied countries.
The second event is a poetry reading by Robert Tayson at the Briarwood Library, located at 85-12 Main Street. This event will take place on Thursday, June 12 at 6 p.m. Tayson is set to read from his second book of poetry, The World Underneath. Tayson’s book deals with personal struggles he has gone through and his relationship with his male partner.
Another event this month is a “Gay Pride Month Author Talk” with Joel Derfner. The event, entitled, “Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever,” takes place on Tuesday, June 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Jackson Heights Library, located at 35-51 81st Street.
Other events taking place throughout the month include an author talk in Spanish with Hector Santiago on Monday June 16 at 6 p.m. at the Jackson Heights Library and a film screening of “Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema” on Saturday, June 21 at 2 p.m. at the Langston Hughes Library, located at 100-01 Northern Boulevard.
For more information on any of these events, contact Judy Close at 718-990-0706.