Huntington Town Board votes to create LGBTQ+ task force

When Phillip Griffin came out as gay in 2009, he and his parents looked for support groups for Griffin, who was then in eighth grade. They found nothing close to their Huntington home. 

“I started to have some issues like being bullied and losing friends,” Griffin, 28, said Monday. “We didn’t know where to go for support, so we had to travel to Bay Shore." There, they found a support group for gay youth.

This spring, when Griffin started working as a legislative aide to town board member Theresa Mari, that childhood experience led him to ask Mari about creating a task force to address the needs and concerns of the LGBTQ+ community in Huntington.

“I don’t want any young gay, bisexual, queer or transgender child or their family to feel left out and excluded,” said Griffin, who now identifies as pansexual. 

The conversation prompted Mari to introduce a resolution and the town board on May 7 voted 5-0 to establish an  LGBTQ+ task force. 

Each town board member can appoint up to two members to the task force. Their term will coincide with that of the elected official who appoints them.

Mari said the task force will help facilitate dialogue about inclusion and acceptance, and address needs and challenges the LGBTQ+ community faces, from discrimination and harassment in employment to housing and public accommodations, to mental health and wellness. The board is still working out details, Mari said.

"It’s a good initiative for the town to make sure everyone feels included," Mari said. 

She said the vote to establish the task force was scheduled ahead of the Long Island Pride Parade on Sunday, to show support for the community.

Jack Ebert, 24, of Northport, who manages a social media marketing business, said he was not treated negatively growing up gay. But he recognizes that is not everyone’s experience and said the town creating the task force shows inclusivity. 

“The more accepting, the more embracing Huntington is as a community, the more diverse it can be,” he said.

Joe Schramm, director of Huntington’s office of film and television who also is chair of the Suffolk County LGBTQ+ Advisory Board,  said advisory boards and task forces play an important role in delivering key messages for those with special interests.

“It could be as simple as what’s the proper recognition of a cultural event like celebrating Pride ... or what is the best tactic to distribute a medicine that is an antidote to the spread of a disease,” said Schramm, adding Huntington is the only Long Island town with an LGBTQ+ task force.

Retired chiropractor Mark Fornes, 68, who lives in Northport with his partner, said the presence of the task force will have an impact on younger people. 

“I didn’t come out until my first year in college,” Fornes said. “I think if I had something that was more visible and representative of the gay community, I would have come out sooner.”