January 6, 2011
By: Joe Siegel/TRT Reporter
Belle Pellegrino has been one of the champions of LGBT equality in Rhode Island for more than three decades. Pellegrino was one of the participants in the state’s first-ever Gay Pride Parade held in 1976. The marchers had to wage a legal battle for the right to publicly demonstrate their pride in their sexual identities. Pellegrino has also been a member of the Imperial Court of Rhode Island, which raises money for LGBT organizations. The Rainbow Times sat with Pellegrino to find out more about her TRT Hero nomination.
The Rainbow Times: Which people in the LGBT or allied community have been most influential in your life?
Belle Pellegrino: Foremost credit goes to my parents and my religious upbringing that taught me to value all people and to help when/wherever I could. Next would be Rev. Joseph H. Gilbert, former pastor of MCC Providence who encouraged me and showed me I had strength I didn’t know existed. Rev Troy D. Perry, founder of Metropolitan Community Church and Jose Sarria, founder of the Imperial Court System. In the 50’s and 60’s there was NO LBGT visibility: both stood up and fought for what they believed in spite of the odds.
TRT: How can the average member of the LGBT community make a difference in our struggle?
BP: Every person can make a difference. Taking the time to talk with someone who is alone can change that life for the better. Stepping up to speak out about injustice; talking to family, friends and co-workers helping them understand who we are; volunteering to help any of our community organizations; all the ‘little’ things contribute to creating change in attitudes toward the LBGT Community and bring us closer to equality.
TRT: What is the best advice you have ever been given to do the proactive things you do today for our community?
BP: A good many years ago, Rev. Troy Perry, visited my congregation in Albany, NY. At some point during the weekend, he said something I have never forgotten. He said, “If you see a problem or something not right and do nothing … you are as much to blame as if you caused it.” So, whenever I recognize an issue, etc., I feel obliged to do whatever I can to correct it.
TRT: What have you done for the LGBT community individually or collectively that you are proudest of?
BP: I have been active in the community for quite a while. I am so proud to have been part of many efforts to improve our lives and position in the greater community. But, what I am proudest of, are the seemingly ‘little’ things … the middle of the night phone calls on the “Gay Helpline” from individuals who were desperate to find someone who would care if they lived or died; the 5-6 individuals who called the Church phone in Albany to say ‘good by’ and I was able to get them help before their suicide attempt was successful who still live; the time spent talking LGBT youth who felt lost, alone and hopeless.
TRT: What motivates your work within this community?
BP: I am an adoptee. I am most fortunate to have been raised by two wonderful people who taught me to care about others. I like people. I can’t bear to see someone in pain. If I can do something to ease that pain, I have to do it. It is the only thing that makes sense to me. Injustice and inequality make me crazy.
TRT: What can be done about teen suicides that happen as a result of bullying or anti-gay sentiment?
BP: I really think that the most difficult time in life are the teen years. It is a time of searching, seeking and discovery. Most teens feel that they are somehow different. To be a LBGT teen compounds the turmoil of those years. As a community, we need to make ourselves as visible as possible; as accessible as possible and to continue the fight for full equality. Most of all, we need to educate the greater community. Bullying comes from ignorance. Laws that make us less than equal provide validation to bullies. History has proved, while it certainly helps, changing laws to give ‘equality’ to a group doesn’t eliminate discrimination or provide acceptance. It takes many generations of education to make the laws effective. We need to provide a mechanism for teens to reach out to strong LBGT leaders and individuals for guidance, to lessen their sense of being alone, to find like-minded people who care. Our young LBGT people are our legacy to the world. We need to watch over them and protect them and guide them to be leaders of future generations of LBGT people.
TRT: What are the top three issues that affect our community the most?
BP: When I came out in 1968, the biggest threat to the LBGT Community was the widespread ignorance of who and what we are and, in 2010, that hasn’t changed. The more we can educate and correct the misconceptions about us, the more we gain acceptance, the closer we come to full equality. About 1975-6, someone asked the question, “What would you consider the best thing that could happen to help the LBGT Community to gain full acceptance in the world?” I replied, “If one morning, all over the world, every LBGT person woke up and found their skin had changed color to purple [green, etc.]. If that happened, our existence could not be denied by ourselves or others. People would discover their parent, spouse, child, boss, best friend, etc. was ‘one of them.’ No longer could anyone say they didn’t know any LBGT person and would have to deal with the truth…we _are_ everywhere!
The top three can be condensed to just one: Ignorance. Ignorance leads to intolerance, injustice and inequality. To change that means we all must do all we can to be teachers of the truth.
TRT: Do you consider yourself a hero for the LGBT community?
BP: No. I have been called that by some, but I don’t see it myself. I have always done what I felt I had to do.
In 1976, walking down my street in the early evening hours going to Cumberland Farms for milk and bread was brave; living my life every day as an open Lesbian was/is brave; looking for an apartment or job hunting was brave. Leading a parade down the streets of Providence in broad daylight June 26, 1976 with a Federal Court order to back me, was not brave to me; it was an act of defiance.
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TRT Heroes Continued
TRT: Will full LGBT equality be achieved in this country during the next 10 years? 20 years?
BP: I have seen so much change in RI, across the U.S. and the world, in the last 42 years. Changes I would have laughed at the mere mention of back then. It would not surprise me if the laws changed in the next 10 years. Changing the attitudes that make it ‘popular’ to hate us, to permit bullying of our youth and others, and give license to “Gay Bashing” will take many lifetimes. But, it will happen one day as long as we keep on working and teaching.
