GLT » Friend of the Year: Marc Chery

feature

Friend of the Year: Marc Chery

Published Thursday, 28-Jul-2005 in issue 918

As director of the Malcolm X Branch Library, Marc Chery has weathered fierce resistance and on-site protests for his continued support of the GLBT community and for being a staunch defender of equal rights.

Chery has repeatedly opened the library on Market Street in Valencia Park for GLBT organizations to hold events and forums, including AIDS groups gathering to address the impact of the disease among people of color.

“We’ve been here for five years. Whatever we do is inclusive,” Chery said.

In the past year, Chery lent the library venue to host a public forum about same-sex marriage, as well as an African-American GLBT film festival presented by Ebony Pride, which prompted demonstrations by anti-gay evangelicals and conservatives within the local community.

After receiving complaints from local anti-gay rabble-rouser James Hartline and several anonymous callers about the Ebony Pride film festival, who asked how the Malcolm X Library was going to protect children from “those people” and also equated the GLBT community with pornography, Chery stood his ground, holding that the library is open to all people.

“We were lucky that library management also felt the same way, so I didn’t have to push them too hard,” Chery recalled. “We are also lucky that the local councilman [District 4 Councilmember Tony Young] …was here to fight those reactionary folks. His office got lots of calls, but stood for what is right.”

The film festival went on as scheduled March 12, and was deemed a success.

Chery said he felt “extremely honored” to be named this year’s Friend of the Year. “When I was called and I found out who had nominated me, I told them they should not have done that. We are just doing our jobs. I was pleased.”