TCPL Announces ‘The Gay Agenda’ leading up to Ithaca Pride

A resource fair, gender-affirming closet, storytimes and information sessions are among the programs planned when Tompkins County Public Library presents The Gay Agenda from June 7 to 12. The special programming, which has events for queers and allies alike, is to help celebrate Pride Month as well as help offer resources ahead of the Ithaca Pride Alliance’s Ithaca Pride 2025 celebration.

“The Gay Agenda is for everybody and anybody, just like libraries,” said Ally True, a TCPL Library Assistant who leads the staff committee behind The Gay Agenda. “Anybody is welcome to come to the events and learn about how to support, what your family and friends may be experiencing, and even how to help them.”

The programming begins Saturday, June 7 and continues through the following week.

• Saturday, June 7
  11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Pride Storytime
  12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Resource Fair
  1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Gender-Affirming Clothing Closet
• Monday, June 9
  6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Supporting Your Siblings with Karina Hagelin
  6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Queer Craft Club
• Tuesday, June 10
  Programming TBD!
• Wednesday, June 11
  4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. LGBTQIA+ Youth Group
  6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Your Body, Your Choice with Planned Parenthood and Alternatives Credit Union
• Thursday, June 12
  6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Gay Film 101 with Teagan Bradway
  
  

The Resource Fair to kick-off The Gay Agenda programming will include a chance for people to speak with representatives from local organizations, including Cornell Health, LawNY and the Southern Tier AIDS Program. Representatives from TCPL’s own LGBTQIA+ Youth Group will also be on hand.

“The Gay Agenda, at TCPL and everywhere else, is not to break families apart and ruin the sanctity of marriage,” True said. “The Gay Agenda is a to-do list of things that we can do for ourselves to make us feel more comfortable. The rights of queer and trans people are actively being threatened and taken away. The best and most helpful thing we can do right now is form and strengthen communities, and there’s no better place to do it than in a library. I am so excited to see people learn and grow as themselves and as allies during these events.”

TCPL strives to make itself a safe place for everyone in the community and has personnel dedicated to upholding the Library’s Code of Conduct.

“TCPL views all manifestations of prejudice and intolerance that target particular individuals or interfere with patrons’ ability to use the library as contradictory to our mission and violations of our Code of Conduct,” the Library’s Equity Statement reads in part.

“I wish programs like this existed at my Library when I was growing up; it would have made a world of difference in my life,” said Kate DeVoe, the head of Circulation at TCPL, which oversees outreach efforts. “When the most vulnerable are protected, we’re all protected. Libraries are places where all should be welcomed and accepted.”

The Library will also be an active participant in the Ithaca Pride 2025 celebration which runs from Friday, June 13 through Sunday, June 15.More information on special events and programming for The Gay Agenda at TCPL will be posted in the coming weeks on tcpl.org/gayagendatcpl, the Library’s social media channels using #GayAgendaTCPL, and in the June e-mail newsletter.