Announcing our 2022 Grand Marshals!

Photo by Melanie Florez Kratunis

Rita ‘Rusty’ Rose

Rita ‘Rusty’ Rose is a pioneer of the modern day LGBTQIA movement having participated in the Stonewall Rebellion. While others fled the bar, Rusty and Drag King Vinny, her Transgender friends and Drag Queens held their own inside the Stonewall Inn; resisting arrest.

Rusty is also an international poet and is Long Island’s first LGBTQ+ poet laureate; 2018 to the present.

Her poem Put the T’ First, reveals what it was like to be inside the Stonewall when it was raided. It further illuminates the participation of the Transgender community when many questioned it. The poem is recognized world-wide. 

Early in our Long Islands LGBTQ+ History, Rusty participated in the first Long Island Pride and events like Pride Across Long Island and was a March/Parade organizer.

Currently, Rusty is active in securing rights for LGBTQ+ friends in a UNHCR Camp/block 13, in Kenya, Africa.

Her latest books of poetry include: Flower Poems: Personalities in Bloom and Veranda Sundown. She also served as Co-Editor of Stonewall’s Legacy Anthology.

Reverend Gale D. Jones

Reverend Gale D. Jones, serves as Executive Pastor of Long Island Community Fellowship in Babylon, NY.

On January 15, 2002, Reverend Gale D. Jones stepped into the pulpit of Renewed Life Ministries in New York City (NYC) as its founding pastor. The underpinning of this new ministry reverberated from the Yoruba word, “Ori’ta” which is loosely translated as “the place where the ways come together”. The significance of all of this is that it preceded the beginnings of LICF by 1-month. And it was during the ten-year time period of 2002-2012 that Reverend Jones was afforded opportunities to hone pastoral skills that would serve her in her work as “Shepherd” of LICF commencing in 2011.

Through the year 2000, Reverend Jones’ professional career was spent in management and executive positions in corporate financial environments. However, it was at that point in time that she was no longer able to sit on her call to work with people who are traditionally marginalized and severely under-served. At that moment, an activist for human rights concerns climbed down from the fence and fully embraced the work of mitigating the concerns of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities, alternative sex and differently-gendered cultures, women, disenfranchised and disconnected youth and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Along with her duties and responsibilities as Executive Pastor of LICF, Reverend Jones has seamlessly continued her advocacy work by fostering working partnerships with communities and organizations on Long Island in both Nassau and Suffolk counties. Those partnerships are comprised of HIV/AIDS organizations; Transgender Civil and Human Rights advocacy groups; and Interfaith bridge building. For her efforts, she was honored in 2016 with a “Humanitarian of the Year” Award. Highlighted among her past accomplishments is: Director of Education; Spiritual Development workshops; managing a Food Pantry and Community Meals Program; serving as an Assistant Pastor from 1999 through 2001.

Reverend Jones, the eldest of three siblings, the mother of an adult daughter and grandmother to two grandsons, was born and grew up in Philadelphia, PA. She was educated in the parochial school system and subsequently obtained a BA in Economics from Immaculata University. She received ordination (Deacon in 1994 and Reverend in 1999) under the auspices of the Unity Fellowship Church Movement (UFCM). In accordance with its requirements after satisfactorily completing a UFCM designed curriculum, Reverend Jones was eventually sanctioned as a Pastor in 2001 and obtained all rights, privileges and responsibilities to: teach and preach about spirituality; administer sacraments; preside at life-passage rituals such as weddings and funerals; lead public worship; and provide spiritual counsel.

Theologically, Reverend Jones is a Progressive Believer in the Gospel of Jesus. This means that she is open to questioning tradition, accepting human diversity and strongly committed to social justice as emphasized in the “Great Commandment to Love”. Spiritually sustaining herself through Praise, Prayer and the Word, Reverend Jones is dedicated to leading people to themselves in order to discover the God presence within for Faith, Purpose and Vision. It is her great hope that the fruits of her work ultimately manifest in communal celebration and reaffirmation that reinforces the bonds of all people through the renewal of a common identity, purpose and direction at “the place where the ways come together”, “Ori’ta”.