ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — “The elephant in the room is that LGBTQ people become a political football as we get closer to any sort of election cycle,” Nathanial Gray, Executive Director of the Pride Center of the Capital Region, said.

“We do live in a time where children are born in the United States with more rights as an LGBTQ+ person than when I was born almost 40 years ago. And we live in a time when it’s almost more scary than it’s ever been to be an openly LGBTQ+ person.”

The Pride Center of the Capital Region provides support services for LGBTQ people in a ten-county region and produces the Capital PRIDE parade and festival in Albany, NY.