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A community center in Brooklyn is providing a safe space for basketball players of all genders and sexual orientations to play without fear of being targeted by slurs or bigotry.
CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Pride centers are vital touchstones for queer people in search of solidarity.
The Brooklyn Community Pride Center was honored by the Nets with the “Jason Collins Award for Courage and Leadership” as part of Nets Unite, the teams initiative to build unity.
The Brooklyn Pride center offers a host of programs to the community, including pick-up basketball.
Community center athlete Marion Lozano explains why it can be a challenge just to find a safe place to hoop, “Usually if youre going to an outdoor court or an indoor open gym, its labeled already ‘mens open gym or ‘womens open gym, and if youre nonbinary there might be a little bit of confusion which way you want to go.”
Omari Scott says the Brooklyn Community Pride Center takes that decision out of the equation, “Its so important for our community to have access to safe and inclusive spaces for physical health and exercise. Our community shouldnt have to travel to another borough to get something that should be right in their own backyard.”
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