PV: Jack, you have become a voice for LGBTQ+ youth for years now. You have 16 years of experience with youth. Can you tell us how leading GLYS (Gay and Lesbian Youth Services) has given you a perspective on the needs and issues of the LGBTQCommunity? What’s different from when you started? What is different now? JK: When I first started, GLYS was the only visible resource for LGBTQ+ youth in Western New York. Over the years, our focus has shifted from crisis support and survival, but we have seen our role expand from just survival to helping youth thrive. Today’s LGBTQ+ youth are more vocal, more informed, and more connected—but they’re also facing a new wave of hostility, particularly around gender identity. The issues have evolved. While we’ve made progress with visibility and some legal protections, we’re now navigating a political and social climate that’s actively trying to roll those back. My perspective has shifted from thinking we were on a steady path forward to understanding that our progress is not guaranteed. We have to fight for it every single day.
Both of your moms are attorneys. Barbara Kavanagh was the first openly gay legislator to run for office in Buffalo. How did growing up with them affect your career and the way you see LGBTQ+ rights and services? Growing up with two moms—especially ones as strong and trailblazing as mine—taught me early on that visibility is powerful, and advocacy is essential. My moms lived their truth at a time when that wasn’t easy, and they instilled in me the value of standing up for others and using your voice. Seeing Barbra run for office as an openly gay candidate showed me that representation matters—not just symbolically, but because it changes policies and lives. Their legal backgrounds also shaped how I think about systems: how to navigate them, challenge them, and change them to be more just. My work in LGBTQ+ services has always been about both compassion and strategy—two things I definitely inherited from them.
The current administration has recreated a sense of fear that many of us thought was long gone or at least fading. Currently there are nationwide attacks on our trans family in legislation and socially. What are you doing and what can we do as a community to protect this targeted group? We are in a moment of urgency. At GLYS, we are expanding our mental health programming, increasing support groups specifically for trans and nonbinary youth, and working directly with schools to ensure safer environments. But beyond programming, we are unapologetically vocal. Silence is complicity. We are advocating at the local, state, and national levels, and training our youth and allies to do the same. As a community, we must show up—for protests, for school board meetings, for votes, and for each other. We need to center trans voices, donate to trans-led organizations, and not allow fear to silence us. The fight is personal, and it’s now.
It was recently announced that GLYS is taking over the Pride Center formally run by Evergreen Health. This is an exciting and big step for you. How do you see services changing? What will be the new direction of the Pride Center? This is a transformative moment. Taking over the Pride Center allows us to create a truly intergenerational hub for the LGBTQ+ community in Western New York. Our vision is to integrate youth services with adult programming, increase accessibility, and ensure that the programming at both organizations reflects the full spectrum of our community—racially, economically, and across gender identities. We’re building partnerships with healthcare providers, cultural institutions, and grassroots activists to reimagine what community support looks like. Expect more collaborative events, expanded hours, and more direct outreach to rural and underserved populations. The new Pride Center under GLYS will be bold, inclusive, and rooted in both celebration and action.
What does LGBTQ+ pride mean to you in 2025? In 2025, Pride is about resilience. It’s about honoring those who came before us, while fiercely protecting those who are coming up now. Pride isn’t just a party—it’s a declaration that we belong, that we matter, and that we won’t be erased. It’s love and resistance in the same breath. For me, Pride is also about connection—uniting across generations, identities, and movements. It’s a time to recharge, recommit, and remind ourselves that joy is a powerful form of protest.