president was elected, and Stephan Hengst and Patrick Decker founded Big Gay Hudson Valley.Īfter growing frustrated by poor coordination in the LGBTQ+ community, Hengst and Decker created a Facebook group to increase communication and reduce overlap in event planning. economy collapsed, Heath Ledger gave his iconic performance as The Joker, the first black U.S. Ten years ago, Michael Phelps broke Mark Spitz’s record in Beijing, the U.S. We spoke with residents to see if our region offers an example or an exception to the union’s state of affairs. PHOTO COURTESY OF BIG GAY HUDSON VALLEY By Steve Fowler | Featuring Photography by Michael PolitoĪfter making heartening progress over the last decade, the LGBTQ + community now finds itself uneasy on a national level.
