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Grant will fund LGBTQ+ ‘Rainbow Visibility’ initiative at Lancaster Public Library

Lancaster Public Library Executive Director Lissa Holland, right, speaks at a LGBTQ+ Giving Circle reception at the Fulton Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (Photo: Tim Stuhldreher)

“We want to make sure that everyone feels welcome at Lancaster Public Library,” Executive Director Lissa Holland said.

That unequivocally includes Lancaster’s LGBTQ+ population, and the library will not tolerate hate and fear directed against that community or anyone else, she said.

Holland was the keynote speaker Sunday evening at the Fulton Theatre, at a reception marking the second anniversary of the Lancaster LGBTQ+ Giving Circle.

Lancaster LGBTQ+ Giving Circle: 2024 grants

  • Eastern PA Trans Equity Project ($12,460): Supportive services and empowerment programs for transgender individuals.
  • Girls on the Run of Lancaster and Lebanon ($10,000): 10-week programs for girls in grades 3-8, culminating in a celebratory 5K event, with funding for curriculum updates and training.
  • Lancaster Pride ($25,000): Support for the annual Lancaster Pride Festival.
  • Lancaster Public Library ($15,000): The Rainbow Visibility project, enhancing LGBTQ+ resources and programming.
  • Lititz Chooses Love ($25,000): Capacity building, including expansion, creating a rapid response fund and launching an inclusion institute.
  • Touchstone Foundation ($12,540): Healing circles and group therapy for leaders of community benefit organizations serving LGBTQ+ and BIPOC populations.

Source: LGBTQ+ Giving Circle

Launched in October 2022, the giving circle is organized under the umbrella of the Lancaster County Community Foundation, which provides administrative support. The circle has made two rounds of annual grants so far: $50,000 in 2023 and $100,000 in 2024.

“It has been quite a two years,” said Todd Snovel, a member of the Giving Circle’s advisory committee.

Todd Snovel (Photo: Brian Nguyen)

Previously, he said, there hadn’t been a local philanthropic effort focused specifically on the LGBTQ+ community. Ramping up the Giving Circle, he joked, was like going from preschool to college “almost overnight.”

Among the six recipients in 2024 is the Lancaster Public Library. It is receiving $15,000 for its “Rainbow Visibility” project. Through it, the library will expand its LGBTQ+ materials and programming and its outreach to the LGBTQ+ community, Holland said.

While the project will launch in full next year, some aspects are getting started sooner, including a LGBTQ+ youth book group that begins Oct. 28, Holland said.

“Our hope is that the Rainbow Visibility project not only serves the LGBTQ+ community, but also our broad community of people who want to participate,” she said.

Lissa Holland. (Photo: Brian Nguyen)

The library became a focal point of controversy this spring when Lancaster Pride arranged to hold a drag story hour at the facility at 151 N. Queen St.

Lancaster County commissioners Josh Parsons and Ray D’Agostino condemned the event as unfit for children and inappropriate for a publicly supported institution. Other politicians, conservative organizations and community members chimed in. Ultimately, a bomb threat led to the event’s cancellation.

Lancaster Pride subsequently hosted events featuring the story hour performer, Christopher Paolini aka Miss Amie Vanite, at its Pride Festival in June and in September in a joint performance with actor and Lancaster County native Jonathan Groff, both at the Lancaster County Convention Center.

Guests chat at the reception. (Photo: Brian Nguyen)

Holland said she never expected the story hour would lead to the “visceral reaction” that it did.

“My bubble burst that day,” she said. She received numerous abusive messages, including explicit threats, but said she chooses to focus on the “silver lining”: The many messages of love and support directed to her and the library.

Subsequently, the library’s management and board took action — updating the library’s policies for programming and meeting room rentals and developing a statement of welcome and respect.

Four Fulton Theatre performers took the stage during the reception to sing songs from musicals, accompanied on the piano by Ben Naboe. Clockwise from top left: Paris Porché Richardson, “Unruly Heart” from “The Prom”; James Major Burns, “Role of a Lifetime” from “Bare, A Pop Opera”; Mark Timkey, “If You Knew My Story” from “Bright Star”; and Rhys Williams, “It Only Takes a Moment” from “Hello, Dolly!” (Photos: Brian Nguyen (top row) and Tim Stuhldreher (bottom row))

Holland said her whole life has taught her the value of embracing differences. Her parents were open about their friendships with gay couples, and when she moved to New York City as a young adult, she was entranced by the Christopher Street Halloween Parade. Later, in Dallas, she, her husband and their young son volunteered with the Tanqueray Texas AIDS Ride, a major fundraising initiative that ran for several years in the late 1990s.

Brainstorming with several library staff members, Holland said, led to the Rainbow Visibility project.

“Personally, I felt the responsibility to help heal the fear and division,” Holland said. The nonprofit has rededicated itself to moving forward, she said, “so that anyone who comes into the library can find themselves there.”

From left: Fulton Theatre performers Rhys Williams, Paris Porché Richardson, James Major Burns and Mark Timkey, Music Supervisor Ben McNaboe and Casting Associate & Entertainment Coordinator Joey Abramowicz. (Photo: Brian Nguyen)