A Safe Place for Queer and Trans People of Color in Philadelphia

When a young person of color comes out to friends and family, life is not all pride flags and celebrations, as Tyrell Brown (they/them) found out at 16. After being bullied and beaten up at school, Brown began ditching school, which led to difficulties at home. “My mother didn’t understand what I was going through so I started spending the majority of my time at my godmother’s house. I called her my ‘aunt’ and her boys my ‘cousins.’ We were best friends, and inseparable. I never felt judged there,” they said.

Brown’s difficult childhood experiences as a gay Black person led them to understand that everyone needs a safe place to go during challenging times. The experience eventually led them to help other young people in the LGBTQIA+. community as the executive director of GALAEI, a social service organization for queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and people of color. GALAEI is now a haven for anyone in need of support and a place to feel heard.

GALAEI provides social services, education, health services and more for LGBTQIA+ people of color. Those in need of support can go and talk to someone, free of judgment. Here, Brown discusses how GALAEI is changing — and saving — lives.

What was your personal experience?

Though my uncle was gay, it didn’t make my life any easier. We didn’t sit around talking and drinking chamomile tea. Things were difficult at home. I realize now that it wasn’t my sexual orientation or my gender identity that was an issue for my mother. As a teenager I’d say, “You don’t like me ’cause I’m gay.” But I see now that I was headed down a precarious path. I was a truant child. I’d skip school because I was being bullied and getting into fights. It was just easier to not deal with the anxiety of all that, so I cut school.

Every weekend and during the summertime, because of difficulties at home, I just stayed with my godmother. Her home offered more structure, and she was able to alleviate some of the stress I was feeling. She had my back. She had everyone’s back. That experience of finding a safe, nonjudgmental place to go led me to want to help others who were experiencing similar struggles.

My school was just a typical underfunded school. They didn’t have the competency to deal with [children’s] sexual orientation and gender identity. Most people, even today, don’t have adequate tools to support children and young people who are going through life changes and identity issues.

How have things changed?

People ask, isn’t it different now? Yes, more and more young people are coming out, but that means there are also more and more challenges. We lifted the umbrella on oppression for people to come out, but the racism is still there. That’s where GALAEI comes in.

Everyone at GALAEI has had to deal with bullying or direct physical attacks and all kinds of racism. When I came out, it was around the same time that Matthew Shepard was killed. People don’t recognize the impact that had on my timeline, but I remember thinking, I am going to come out and people are going to find me on the side of the railroad tracks.

Social media only shows one story. We see Pride flags and Pride merchandise at national retail chains and all the celebrations, but that actually creates a veneer over what is actually happening and what more is needed. These [demonstrations] are no substitute for tangible support for BIPOC communities. It does not get to the root of what many young people, especially people of color, need, which is education and services.

At GALAEI, we don’t just unite around a flag. We unite around values. A lot of times people will offer the sentiment that things are easier now, but that invalidates the experience many QTBIPOC people are experiencing in real time.

“I wanted to make GALAEI a beacon of hope.”

What inspired you to get involved with GALAEI?

In 2012, I found out that I was HIV-positive. It scared the death out of me. Those initial weeks of not knowing and being abandoned by people, such as my partner at the time, made me want to get involved with GALAEI. First, I was given the opportunity to develop a summer camp program, because my job history involved being a preschool teacher. When I found out there was an opportunity to become the Deputy Director, I leapt at it. Then I was promoted to Executive Director a year later, and I realized this was my chance to excise my own demons.

How has GALAEI evolved since you took the reins?

When I took the job, I wanted to make GALAEI as big and bright in our community as possible, so that people could see from their sightlines that there is an organization that cares about them.

I wanted to make GALAEI a beacon of hope so that people could say, “There is a place I can go where people look like me and share my identities, and I can find people I can trust. A place where I can tell my stories, and people will listen and not judge.”

People don’t feel seen and heard or “gotten.” That creates frustration. I wanted to make sure GALAEI was a place for all of Philadelphia — where queer, trans, BIPOC, and everyone can go and feel heard.

There are just six of us, and I make sure people I meet know they can DM me or text me. Because the difference between somebody getting a resource they need and not getting that resource can be the difference between life and death.

What is your biggest win?

The culture shift. I had to shift the culture from individuals saying, how do we fortify the organization and each other in the building, to how do we take care of the people even more vulnerable than we are. That is the hallmark of my work.

GALAEI’s staff has the privilege of serving others and getting paid for it. There are people in our community who may not have found their voice yet. So we’re helping them navigate that. It means helping them with their challenges and getting over any barriers and gaps.

What happens at GALAEI, day in and day out?

We do several things. Predominantly, health and wellness. We navigate where there are gaps for clients, to help them achieve being healthy and well. That means getting them healthcare services or an appointment. Or it means helping them find housing, food support, or clothing support. We created a free food pantry and a free clothing closet.

Another part of what we do is education. Education includes advocacy. One of the issues that we find is that abstinence is no longer the predominant recommendation. And it’s not realistic to throw condoms into people’s laps and assume they are going to use them. We are educating people about safer sex and sex positivity. Enjoy what you’re going to do. You can be into anything, as long as it’s legal, but it’s important to have a space that is safe and healthy for you and your partners.

What do you hope for GALAEI to achieve in the next three years?

As an organization, I want to tackle housing challenges for the LGBTQIA+ community we serve and would love to open a transitional house, specifically for people between the ages of 18 and 30. That is a time when housing insecurity can take hold. I don’t think people understand how housing challenges drive everything else. We have lost clients because they became homeless. It is challenging to make doctor’s appointments when you don’t have a bus pass or a cell phone.

What is your biggest challenge, and how do you overcome it?

My biggest recurring challenge is staying in a space of creation. When you are being smacked in the face with challenges that are frustrating, or oppressive, or racist, or transphobic, that’s hard. But instead of saying, “Who do you think you are, talking to me that way?” I set that aside and focus on the bigger goal: that 300 people need me to stay in a space of benevolence.

Sometimes it happens intra-community. We learn that only one organization gets the grant or recognition. That means I have difficult conversations, especially during Pride. Business owners will say, you’re all going to benefit! But often that leaves out Black and brown communities.

It’s also institutional. In the 1980s, resources often were spent in places that did not include Black and brown communities, like the “gayborhood” or the downtown district. The class of business owners there is largely white. So it is a challenge to deal with those dynamics. There have been people who are really supportive of us, and there have been those who haven’t been.

Are things ever going to change?

I don’t think we are ever going to feel like our work here is done. My current partner and I were talking about integrity and what that means, and we decided that integrity is an everyday pursuit. You don’t just have it. I have to wake up and pursue integrity every day. As a society and a community of BIPOC LGBTQIA+ people, we have to pursue integrity every day.

That might be the distinction between people who are recognized as leaders and people who are not. Leadership is a commitment you have every day. The reason I wake up fired up every day is that I have an idea — and it’s an idea that is going to change the world.

Philadelphia-based performing artist? Phyllis Hyman. I remember being a kid and hearing her voice. It rings in my ears how powerful her voice was. She has this song called “Meet Me on the Moon,” and I would play it after my grandfather died and dedicate it to him. I missed him, and it was like telling him, meet me on the moon, all right?

Favorite place to eat: My favorite and best meal I have had lately is at Stina Pizzeria in South Philly. It’s owned by a dear friend, Christina, and her husband, Bobby. They really put so much care into their food. Every time I’ve eaten there, it’s been amazing.

Favorite place to relax: Philadelphia as a whole is my favorite place to relax. I love going for walks in the city. I live in Point Breeze and I walk home when the weather is nice. It’s three-and-a-half miles but walking through the city and listening to the city and the people I pass is restorative, and it makes me feel grounded.

Favorite Philadelphia small business? The Bike Stop, a gay bar in Center City. The reason it’s my favorite is the transformation it’s taken on. It’s become a bar that is so much more broad and welcoming and trans-friendly. That place is so welcoming.

Favorite Philly sports team? Of course the Eagles! I have been watching football and sports since I was a child and have always been a sports fan. I am also a big Sixers fan and a big Phillies fan… and I like the Flyers. And I love tennis! I avidly watch every sport that comes on TV.

You don’t know Philly until you’ve… fallen in love with the people! You have to love this city, and you have to love the people in it. There is something that unites those of us who have been here a long time. Even when there are cultural differences, we will defend you against people from outside. Like, this is our problem, and we will solve it together!

Why I love Philly and wanna give back: We are so rooted in overcoming, and standing up, and being a union town. It’s the city of solidarity. And it makes me want to give to that cause. To give to people who are standing together in solidarity. Sometimes that means offering your voice, sharing your struggle, and understanding that your plight is not so different from others. That is why I love Philadelphia.

LUCY DANZIGER is a journalist, an author, and the former editor-in-chief of Self Magazine, Women’s Sports & Fitness, and The Beet.

Philly Gives content is supported by the Philadelphia Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and The Lenfest Institute; and produced independently by INQStudio. To learn more about Philly Gives, including how to donate, visit phillygives.org.