➤ JIMMY VAN BRAMER, from p.22
“I used to be called gay boy by
kids in the neighborhoods,” he
explained. “I was once chased by
kids calling me gay and faggot. It
was horrible.”
He said he remained in the closet
partly because he was undergoing
puberty in the midst of the HIV/
AIDS crisis during the early and
mid-1980s.
He recalled watching a television
segment during which a conservative
commentator said every
gay man would die by the age of
30. That, he said, drove him further
into the closet, at least until
he saw an advertisement in 1988
in the Village Voice.
“On the back of the Village Voice
there used to be a bunch of ads —
little box ads,” he said. “I saw an
ad no more than a quarter of an
inch and it said ‘lesbian and gay
youth group in Queens.’ I saw that
and I knew it was me, but I was too
afraid, so I held onto that for a year
and looked at it every week when
the paper came out. I couldn’t get
myself to call it until May of 1989.”
Van Bramer remembered feeling
hesitant up until the moment he
arrived at the building hosting the
meeting. He circled the block multiple
times before he fi nally walked
in to fi nd other LGBTQ folks just
like him. That feeling of belonging,
one that Van Bramer hopes today’s
queer youth can experience, contributed
to his decision to compare
and contrast his childhood with
his modern-day self.
He referred to that meeting in
the ad, saying, “My life was saved
when I walked into a meeting of a
local LGBTQ youth group, and I
was welcomed. I knew then I wasn’t
alone. They pulled me back from
the abyss. And for the fi rst time, I
said to myself, ‘It’s going to be okay.
I was on my way to being free.”
The ad showed the young Van
Bramer actor stepping into that
meeting and greeting others before
shifting back to the rooftop scene,
where the video illustrates the positive
outcome of that meeting: The
younger Van Bramer steps away
from the ledge and makes eye contact
with his modern-day self.
Elaborating on that scene, Van
Bramer told Gay City News that it
represented a way to signal to LGBTQ
young people that things will
improve for them.
“‘It gets better’ is a catch phrase
in our queer community, but its
meant to symbolize that it’s the
14-, 15-, and 16-year-old, and if I
could go back today and meet him,
I would say to him, ‘All of this ends
so much better than you think it
does,’” he said.
Van Bramer believes that kind
of message will not only resonate
in the borough, but is important in
light of the way modern politics are
stained by the presence of President
Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump is bullying people
in marginalized communities,”
Van Bramer said, citing black,
transgender, and undocumented
folks among those who have been
most negatively impacted by the
president’s bigotry. “Everybody
in their life has faced a moment
where it seemed hopeless, where
they were counted out, where they
were told they were worthless over
and over. I thought I’d tie it into the
moment we’re in today.”
Van Bramer, who endorsed Tiffany
Cabán , an out queer Queens
district attorney candidate who
nearly won the June Democratic
primary, long before her campaign
rose to prominence, is rejecting
real estate money and putting
himself forward as a progressive
in the race to replace current Borough
President Melinda Katz, who
edged out Cabán by just 60 votes
and is expected to coast to victory
in the general election for district
attorney.
Other confi rmed candidates for
borough president include Councilmembers
Donovan Richards
and Costa Constantinides and
State Assemblymember Alicia
Hyndman.
Additional names fl oated as possible
contenders include Assemblymember
Ron Kim and former
Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley.
“There’s a real progressive movement
afoot in Queens and nationally,
and I know that of all the people
in this race I am the progressive,
anti-machine candidate who has
always been about taking power
away from the establishment and
returning it back to people,” Van
Bramer said. “I want to be their
champion.”
They count on you,
So count on us to
keep you going.
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