A reservoir in Brewster.
The business district in the village of Brewster.
➤ PUTNAM COUNTY, from p.24
is sometimes pressured not to
host events that might be viewed
as too partisan.
Putnam needs more.
In response to this climate, I’ve
joined with some other Putnam
residents in an effort to launch the
fi rst-ever Putnam Pride Parade in
Cold Spring next year.
The event is badly needed, not
just for Putnam’s LGBTQ residents
who have nowhere to congregate,
but to energize and bring
visibility to the county’s queer
community and to ensure that
the arc of New York State politics
continues to bend forward rather
than backward.
To be sure, other Lower Hudson
Valley counties voted Trump
in 2016, but Putnam’s margins
stand alone and its local governments
are broadly Republicancontrolled.
The County Legislature
recently passed resolutions
opposing the New York State Reproductive
LAURIE DOPPMAN
Health Act (RHA) as
“sanctioning infanticide” and objecting
to New York State’s “Green
Light” bill to grant driver’s licenses
to undocumented immigrants.
During the hearing to approve the
RHA resolution, one supporter
of the effort sitting near me held
a sign that decried abortion on
one side and homosexuality on
the other — as if he were hopping
from one protest to another that
night.
Putnam also hosts a federal
government facility that may be
harboring “unaccompanied minors”
— children who have been
separated from their families at
the border. Attempts so far to verify
the conditions for these children
have been largely resisted,
with only one Republican elected
offi cial being granted a carefullyguided
tour without a Spanish
translator.
These kinds of politics persist
only because the progressive community
in this part of Putnam
County has been silenced or become
apathetic and disillusioned
in light of it being a decades-long
conservative stronghold. Like Beacon
and Cold Spring, other communities
in Putnam County have
great potential for LGBTQ and
other progressive families looking
for more space, easy access to
Manhattan via Metro-North, local
arts, nature, farms, and more. But
as long as the queer community is
encouraged to stay quiet, the dynamic
will not change.
There are certainly many forces
working for change — the Putnam
Progressives, Putnam Young
LAURIE DOPPMAN
Democrats, and Putnam County
Democratic Committee, to name a
few — with some recent successes
that indicate Putnam may be
trending toward change.
But we need more help. Join us
for Putnam Pride on June 6 next
year or lend your support, open
an LGBTQ-friendly business in
Putnam, or even consider moving
here. If you’re up for helping to foster
change somewhere not too far
away, Putnam needs you.
For more information on Putnam
Pride, contact Eileen McDermott at
putnamnypride@gmail.com .
LGBTQ Parenting Tips
Everyone can use some
parenting tips from time to
time. Here are some tips for
the LGBTQ+ family.
1. CREATE AN LGBTQ
NETWORK
When children have community
around them it lets them know
they are not the only family that was formed like their own.
2. CREATE YOUR OWN FAMILY PRIDE
The more comfortable you are showing your pride, the easier it
will be for your children to take pride in their family.
3. SHOW AND EXPRESS LOVE
Do not be afraid to show and express love to those important
around you.
4. BE A POSITIVE ROLE MODEL FOR YOUR FAMILY
Positive modeling will help create a safe and supportive
environment for your children. They will learn from you how to
advocate when they need to. Providing a safe environment might
mean saying something at school, to family or other parents.
Contact us at postadoption@spence-chapin.org or 646-539-2167.
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