Under the Rainbow: The story of GABLES

Seldom do I write a feature in which I am a key player. It was a moment of mixed reaction when I was assigned to write a piece on GABLES of Cape May County, a nonprofit LGBT community group celebrating its 23rd year. Having been an active member of GABLES since 1996, my head was in a scramble wondering on which of its many charitable accomplishments I should focus, which of the countless socials or cabaret shows I should recount, trying to decide on which of the monumental legislative issues I should mention in which GABLES played a contributing role. Yet, with all the excitement in knowing I would be sharing the GABLES stories with others, it was also a sobering moment for me to realize how far we, as a gay and lesbian group, had come in being seen as equals in our community. Here was a moment when Cape May Magazine, an established publication, was turning the spotlight on the group that not terribly long ago was chastised, threatened, and even shunned by local print media simply based on the sexual identity of its members.  

To best understand the formation and significance of GABLES in Cape May County, I’ll begin by taking a look at Cape May prior to the group’s founding in 1995. It’s no secret to any resident or longtime visitor that Cape May has always been a favorite destination for gays. This decades-old gay presence in a socially and politically conservative community has always struck me as being rather enigmatic.

Lifelong resident Lynn Smith offered an explanation by giving me a glimpse at the town’s gay past. “I grew up here in the 1950s,” recalls Lynn. “That was Cape May’s gay heyday. Wildwood was becoming more popular with its modern motels, and families didn’t want to stay in the big, old rambling hotels of Cape May, but gays loved them! Cape May always had that lure for gays, and since it wasn’t thriving in the 50s, business owners welcomed it. I noticed it, especially on Congress Beach because Congress Hall was primarily a gay hotel. There was a bar in the old Admiral Hotel which was popular with gays, and of course there was the Windsor Hotel with the singing waiters. It was nothing to see men dancing with men. The King Edward bar at the Chalfonte was the most frequented gay bar for many years. Cape May was very conservative, but business owners were well aware of the economics of gay tourism. However, I don’t think Cape May was ready for overt behavior such as men in women’s bathing suits on the beach. That wasn’t too pretty.”

A commonly held opinion among locals is that the controversial and conservative Reverend Carl McIntire, who owned several hotels in town, was responsible for “chasing away the gays” in the 1960s and 70s. During the McIntire era, the gay and lesbian culture became noticeably more closeted. Private parties were taking the place of meeting at the previously frequented hotels and bars. A city ordinance was implemented prohibiting adult males from donning inappropriate bathing attire on the beach. The Ugly Mug bar on Washington Street displayed a sign which read “No Fags Allowed.” But contrary to majority opinion, Lynn pointed out that blaming Reverend McIntire for the shift toward gay intolerance is not a fair conclusion. “There are many things you can say about Reverend McIntyre,” Lynn said. “But chasing away the gays, he did not do. Not that he was pro-gay, but that was already happening before he came to town. Reverend McIntire was buying up many of the old hotels and not using the liquor licenses that they previously had. I think the gay purge was a side effect of that.”     

During the early to mid-1990s, after decades of oppression, the social climate—both locally and nationally—was changing, with a slightly more tolerant and all-inclusive attitude toward gays. A handful of states were debating and deciding on civil unions and domestic partnerships, and popular television shows like Picket Fences and My So Called Life featured positive portrayals of LGBT characters. 

In 1995, banking on what seemed to be a more tolerant wind of change, WJNN, a Southern New Jersey radio station, invited then 29-year-old, openly gay Cape May resident Randall Segal to host a two-hour call-in show called Out and About. At the time, it was only one of 10 such gay radio shows in the nation. Sadly, Out and About’s openly gay platform proved a deterrent to advertisers, and the weekly show went off the air after only eight months. In a futile effort to save the show by enticing advertisers, station owner Mark Scott halved the advertising rates for Out and About. Still, not one advertiser was secured. During its short run, Out and About also sparked another potentially devastating financial effect on the station when conservative-minded residents banned together and harassed WJNN’s advertisers with threats of business and product boycotts if they did not pull their ads from the station.

Discouraged, Mark Scott publicly pointed out that two of the station’s advertisers were closeted gay men who loved Out and About but were afraid to support it with advertising sponsorship. Paradoxes like this compounded Randall’s frustration as he worked to encourage the local gay and lesbian community to join in solidarity and become visible. “Can you believe it?” Randall was quoted as saying after the cancellation of his show. “It’s the irony of a closeted world. I’m getting tired of being the voice of a community that won’t even remotely stand behind me. They’re like little cowering sheep.”  

Randall was not alone in his efforts to bring the gay community out of the closet. Out and About did manage to catch the attention of Eric McKinley, who had been attempting to organize a gay group in each county in New Jersey. Eric contacted Randall and convinced him to spearhead such a group. On March 12, 1995, 20 people attended the first meeting of what would become GABLES. They met at the Seaville Friends Meeting House. Fearful of being seen, many attendees parked their cars at a considerable distance from the meeting house. In attendance was businessman Robert Sall, whose immediate involvement led to the group having a name; LESBIGAYS of Cape May County was born. Bi-weekly meetings were scheduled, a post office box was secured, a bank account was established, and donations were accepted.

Word spread quickly among the gay community of the new social group which had established its mission of promoting, securing, and protecting the dignity and rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. Paid membership grew at a rapid rate within the first seven months. The first major event was a Halloween party held at The Old Grange Restaurant, attended by over 90 members. By November, bylaws had been ratified, officers had been elected, and a social director was appointed to organize and oversee monthly socials. And finally, the group’s name was changed to GABLES, a loose acronym of gay, bisexual, and lesbian, as well as a nod to a facet of Cape May’s Victorian architecture.

Once established, it was agreed among board members that paid membership and themed social events alone were not going to aid the group in reaching its greater goal of full community and social acceptance. The board knew that the viability of GABLES depended on its credibility. An internet directory of gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses was created. GABLES joined the County Chamber of Commerce and was able to utilize the Chambers’ mailing list, expanding its own network to include hundreds of businesses and professionals. GABLES’ first major goal had been met with breakneck speed and carefully calculated organization, for it was now a legitimate and equal part of the community.

In 1996, GABLES began aiding other non-profits in the county with the creation of its annual charity auction, the first of which was held at the Virginia Hotel’s Ebbitt Room. Each November, donations of fine art, antiques, weekend getaway packages as well as merchandise and services from local businesses were auctioned off to attendees numbering in the hundreds. Through the auction’s eight-year run, GABLES raised and distributed over $100,000 to charitable organizations such as South Jersey AIDS Alliance and Volunteers in Medicine of Cape May County.

1996 was also the year that I became an active member of GABLES and even served as its board secretary. I was a single father, raising my son on Washington Street where I owned and operated my inn, The Prince Andrew. I can’t say that any of my fellow GABLES members suggested that I fly the rainbow (gay pride) flag from the porch column of my inn, but the growing solidarity among the gay community, which was a direct result of GABLES’ presence, made me feel safe in doing so. I’d like to brag that I was the first business to fly the gay pride flag in town, but I wasn’t—I was the second. There was another business brave enough to be the first in showing their true colors; that would be my Washington Street neighbors at Foundation Books.

A retail bookstore at 664 Washington Street, Foundation Books was also where GABLES’ extensive LGBT lending library was housed, thanks to the support of its proprietors, Flip DeRea and Steve Grout. The LGBT library was a collection of classic and current gay and lesbian titles, both fiction and nonfiction, amassed by GABLES through donations and the generosity of members who purchased the latest LGBT bestsellers for the library. GABLES’ library at Foundation Books was where anyone could feel safe exploring the wide selection of LGBT titles, organized in the same manner as they would be in any library. A sunny, enclosed porch with potted palms, upholstered chairs and a friendly cat served as a quiet reading room for people as they browsed through books and the latest LGBT magazines. The tide of tolerance was turning in our favor.

During the late ‘90s and into the early ‘00s, GABLES’ visibility grew. Our name, via our charitable efforts and social events, was appearing in local newspapers without negative mentions of the sexual orientation of our membership, although one weekly newspaper, The Cape May County Herald, continued to publish numerous editorial pieces in which quotes from biblical scripture were used to criticize our efforts and the nature of our group. Despite these lingering incidents of prejudice, to which we responded with open invitations to meet with us, the broader Cape May County community embraced us.  

Once we had proven ourselves as a sound, community-based group, we knew the next hurdle was politics. Issues of hate crimes and workplace discrimination of gays were now being taken seriously by lawmakers. Laying the groundwork for same-sex marriage through domestic partnership laws—an issue that only a decade earlier would have seemed like a pipe dream to gay couples who couldn’t even muster the courage to hold hands in public—were now being discussed by legislators and voted on throughout the country, and New Jersey was no exception.

Building and maintaining a socially accepted visibility had been achieved. Now, to be heard. I remember the nervous excitement that ran through GABLES when we realized we could depend on our over-200 paid members, all registered voters, to our advantage in being the voice for the gay community as our elected representatives prepared to consider groundbreaking legislation.

The title of the classic film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? became a catch phrase among GABLES’ members in 1999 when Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo and Republican Senator James Cafiero sat down for pasta with our GABLES family at the church hall of Episcopal Church of the Advent in Cape May. Thanks to the loving support of its pastor, Father James Fisher, GABLES was invited to host its business meetings and monthly socials in the church hall. The pasta dinner was the olive branch, if you will, in what was to become a warm and cordial relationship with our Republican representatives. 

In the traditional town hall style of a candidates’ night, we began inviting our elected representatives to speak with us at our monthly business meetings. Among the key players to soon decide on discrimination issues and domestic partnership were Congressman Frank LoBiondo, Senator James Cafiero, and Republican Assemblymen Jack Gibson and Nick Asselta. These men were promised that there would be no press coverage, and that the meetings were to be a private exchange of views and concerns that we had regarding our gay community. The first meeting with Senator Cafiero and the assemblymen filled the church hall with a standing-room-only crowd. Questions were respectfully asked and answered. Tears came to the eyes of those sharing first-hand accounts of prejudice and discrimination.

Despite the sometimes-heavy tone at the meeting with pleas for equality and heart-wrenching tales of oppression, Senator Cafiero’s charisma and humor kept the dialogue flowing comfortably. In one moment when Senator Cafiero and Assemblymen Gibson and Asselta were cautiously sharing their personal feelings toward gays, Senator Cafiero brought the room to roaring laughter when he said, “Look, I have no problem with any of you. If it weren’t for you guys, our wives would have nowhere to get their hair done.”

We felt the meetings with our many representatives were a huge success, but how successful we were in gaining their full support for Domestic Partnership was yet to be seen. These were, after all, elected Republican lawmakers and representatives of a predominantly conservative county. Their own reputations and careers were at stake. The odds were stacked against us. However, in January 2004, The New Jersey Legislature enacted its Domestic Partnership Act. Not only did all three men vote in favor of it, but Senator Cafiero kept the promise he made to us five years earlier at our pasta dinner by co-sponsoring the legislation. We were elated! 

Republican Cape May County Sheriff James Plousis was also our guest at a monthly meeting as we discussed tensions between law enforcement and the gay community. Sheriff Plousis graciously listened, asked questions of us, and understood the need for sensitivity training among law enforcement officers toward gays and minorities. His understanding of our concerns lead to more open dialogue with us over the years. I also take this opportunity to mention that my late father, Louis F. Raniszewski, a Cape May County Sheriff’s officer, willingly acted as the liaison between GABLES and Sheriff Plousis in scheduling our first meeting with him.

As for Congressman LoBiondo, who had also met with us in similar town hall fashion, we believe his relationship with us changed his previously conservative views on hate crimes and workplace discrimination, as he soon voted in favor of the LGBT community on these issues. This drastic yet supportive shift in his voting record was just the beginning of his public recognition of the LGBT community. To date, he has, on several occasions, congratulated GABLES both publicly and privately on our many milestones and charitable works. During our annual auctions, benefitting the South Jersey AIDS Alliance, he would donate a Washington, DC day trip to be auctioned. At Congressman LoBiondo’s personal expense, the highest bidder and a companion would be transported to Washington, DC in a limousine, where he would treat them to lunch and a personal tour of the Capitol Building. He is truly our friend and ally in matters of equality.

While on the long road to legal equality, our annual celebrations, such as our Mardi Gras extravaganza and Halloween party continued. The Erma Fire Hall, Chalfonte Hotel, and Savannah Key were just a few of the sizable venues able to host our growing number of partygoers.

During this period, the GABLES board launched Diversity Weekend during the first weekend of April 2008. The first Diversity Weekend consisted of the performance of the one-act play Fostered Ideal by playwright and GABLES member Bradley Vile. The play was performed at Cape May Stage. The other offering, on what was to become an annual event, was a two-night cabaret at Carney’s on Beach Avenue. Along with board member Craig Van Baal, I took on the responsibility to produce the cabaret.

Our plan was to expand Diversity Weekend each year. Street fairs and an LGBT film festival were two of the many ideas discussed for future weekends. Sadly, none of those ideas ever manifested. The cabaret, which was a sell-out success, would be repeated annually until 2014. By the third year, the Diversity Weekend name was dropped and the cabaret became a night of stand-up comedy under the show title Bait & Swish. This clever play on words was the creation of our emcee, comic Adam Sank, who is heard weekly on SiriusXM’s The Adam Sank Show. In what seemed to me to be a nod to the earlier days of secretive gay code words, his Bait & Swish titles attracted and amused those who understood their meaning. Subsequent years saw variations on the title, which included Bait & Swish: Another Dip, Bait & Swish: Into the Deep End and my personal favorite, Bait & Swish: Trolling for More. The Bait & Swish series featured some of New York and LA’s brightest comics, including Brad Loekle from truTV’s The Smoking Gun Presents, Ali Wong from NBC’s Are You There, Chelsea?, and the current ABC sitcom American Housewife.  

Utilizing our contacts in the entertainment industry, our outreach to the LGBT community addressed the issue of increasing homelessness among gay youth. In 2010, with Grammy-nominated musician George Mesterhazy as producer, GABLES came to the aid of LGBT homeless youth with the recording of I Hear on the Streets, an 11-song CD. Proceeds from the downloads and sale of the album benefitted New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth in New York City, a homeless shelter dedicated to getting LGBT minors out of the shelter system through continued education and job training programs. Not one of the nearly two dozen recording artists involved in creating the album asked for payment. Engineer Bob Fowler of SSR Recording Studio offered a generous discounted rate for studio time, as did Disc Makers for the CD’s manufacturing. The outpouring of love and support for this project was overwhelming. I acted as a co-producer of the project and composed several of the songs myself, which were recorded by artists such as Emily Nyman & Lynn Berry, Skott Freedman, and Reuben Butchart. The album is still available for purchase through CDBaby.com and can be downloaded in full or in part through iTunes. 

By 2010, thanks to the efforts of board member Vince Grimm and current GABLES Vice President Doreen Talley, our modest internet directory of gay-friendly business had developed into a 96-page Rainbow Directory with 25,000 copies printed annually, supported by grants from both the New Jersey and Cape May County Departments of Tourism. Doreen’s efforts to produce the finest quality LGBT directory and seeing to its distribution throughout the state led to GABLES receiving the New Jersey Governor’s Excellence in Tourism Award. 

GABLES no longer collects membership dues, and now operates on donations with an open membership to all, gay or straight, who wish to support its ongoing community service. While some of our founding members are still active in the two Cape May County Straight Gay Alliances it helped create for Cape May Technical High School and Lower Township High School, business meetings and one annual Thanksgiving social are now the extent of our gatherings. Having achieved and surpassed the goals which GABLES set forth in 1995, many founding members have grown older, retired, or passed away. So too is the zeal of its golden days in the 1990s and early 2000s gone as well.

Sadder still, to the current GABLES board members, is the absence of younger members and the lack of interest among young LGBT people to continue the group’s mission of community service and outreach—an absence that is reflective of a much larger generational rift being seen in the current gay community.

Lynn Smith offered his feelings on this generational split, and what he sees as the bittersweet result of social progress. “Years ago when we came out,” Lynn said. “We came out and went into dark bars and secret places. But if you talk to others of my generation, they will tell you that we’ve lost something. We’ve lost that specialty of our own little world. However, I’ll be honest, it’s now wonderful feeling comfortable in just about any place I go as a gay man.”

Lynn expressed his feelings on seeing younger gays who also enjoy that same social comfort and acceptance. “I want to go up and just slap them in the face,” Lynn Smith told me, with a mixed toned of humor and frustration. “I’m so happy seeing the gay kids in their 20s having such a wonderful time being openly gay, but I want to say to them, ‘If you only knew what it took to get to this point.’ I don’t like it when I see the younger gays disrespecting the older ones. They didn’t live through Stonewall, nor do many of them even know what Stonewall is! They didn’t live through the AIDS crisis and have to watch their friends die. The ones in their 20s need to learn more about their history.”

GABLES President, Craig Van Baal, 70, offered a similar observation on the lack of youthful involvement in the LGBT community. “We have young people today who have never experienced the prejudice,” Craig said. “They don’t feel threatened and have become isolated in their technology, just tapping away. They’ve become socially retarded, not understanding the importance and power in groups.”

Vice President Doreen Talley, 61, links this ignorance of gay youth to a wider epidemic. “I liken this situation to the women’s movement of the ‘60s, where we are now three generations out from understanding the struggles our grandmothers went through regarding things like basic equality and birth control.”

Upon hearing the feelings of older members of the LGBT community, I met with 20-year-old Bobby LeMaire and 19-year-old Maggie Parson of Cape May County, who shared their views on socializing and the generational gap. “Before the internet, LGBT people needed a place to be with other members of the gay community,” said Bobby, who identifies as gay and spoke positively of the technology that previous generations did not have. “Nowadays that can be solved by going online. When I was first discovering my queerness, the internet was a sanctuary for me. It never occurred to me to seek out local groups because with a Google search, I could solve that issue.”

Maggie, who identifies as lesbian, was hopeful about the generational gap being bridged. “We spend so much time thinking one generation is outdated and the other is too inexperienced,” Maggie said, “that we never get the chance to learn and grow from one another.” 

Could the division among generations, a contributing factor to the now dormant state of GABLES, have truly been unavoidable from its inception? Reverend Derrick McQueen, Ph.D, of Columbia University and LGBT advocate, seems to have answered that question best. “GABLES was a radical organization from inception.” said Reverend McQueen who was a young West Cape May resident during the founding of GABLES. “There was blood, sweat and tears that went into it being visible in Cape May. The irony now is that the generational tension in the LGBT community is one of the most normalizing factors that humanizes the movement with the rest of societal shifts.”

When founded in 1995, GABLES was a ray of light in a desperate time. Its goals of social acceptance and legal equality pulled a tired and closeted community together in visible solidarity to make a difference. Achieving its goals led to another irony: that GABLES was destined to be a casualty of its own success.

I offer my personal observation that GABLES has successfully woven its way through the fabric of our community and is alive and well, not necessarily in a gathered group, but in a bright new level of tolerance, understanding and acceptance that had not existed in Cape May County prior to its efforts.

I have always felt that complacency is the greatest danger to any great accomplishment. I conclude with Craig Van Baal’s words on the vital importance of vigilance: “Our gains were hard-fought and won, but they are easily lost. We can never go back and lead invisible lives.”