Laura Glesby Photos
Laura Boccadoro hangs up symbols of pride and "peace."
Paper cranes await a place hanging along Olmo's walls.
A flock of hand-folded, rainbow-colored paper cranes took flight inside Olmo Bagelry on Thursday morning, carrying a message of queer pride and affirmation.
The popular local bagel bakery at Whitney Avenue and Trumbull Street has partnered with the New Haven Pride Center (NHPC) this year to create a display of solidarity with LGBTQIA+ New Haveners.
The center recently hosted a crane-making night, in which about 15 community members who ranged in age from about 4 to 70 produced about a hundred Origami paper cranes in a variety of vibrant colors.
Contributed by the New Haven Pride Center
Last week's paper-crane folding in NHPC headquarters.
On Thursday, the first day of national Pride Month, NHPC employees and Olmo managers punched heart-shaped holes in the folded cranes, threaded pieces of string through the hearts, and taped the birds so that they appeared to be flying along the bagelry’s ceiling. The variety of colors form a unique twist on the rainbow flag that represents LGBTQIA+ pride.
The team mounted the paper crane display a week after Target announced it would remove Pride-themed merchandise from its stores, following vitriolic conservative pushback against messages of queer acceptance.
NHPC Executive Director Juancarlos Soto.
“We’re living in very scary times,” reflected Pride Center Executive Director Juancarlos Soto. People may not be aware of “how hurtful a retailer pulling Pride merchandise can be.”
True allyship persists through periods of backlash, rather than just when it’s convenient or profitable to be queer-friendly, Soto said. And retracting or banning queer-affirming items sends a message to queer people that “you are someone we should be ashamed of,” he said.
The Pride Center’s partnership with Olmo is intended to be an antidote to that feeling of shame.
“I want people to think that they have a place where they belong,” said Serena, a Pride Center intern, as she hole-punched a tiny paper heart.
Pride Center Youth Services Coordinator TMo hole-punches...
... as Serena strings paper cranes at Olmo on Thursday.
Laura Boccadoro, the Pride Center’s marketing and development director, helped spearhead the initiative with Olmo managers Megan Roberts and Raphael Bastek. Boccadoro noted that the hand-made contributions make the paper crane display more “community-based,” while the birds themselves are a “symbol of peace.”
Soto expressed enthusiasm for the business’ choice to “love up on a community when everyone’s jumping ship,” especially within blocks of multiple schools.
To Soto, the birds on the first day of Pride Month represent a new beginning. After a lapse in nonprofit status and change of leadership at the Pride Center, Soto envisions re-focusing the center’s programming on community-building, basic needs, and social support. (The Pride Center’s nonprofit status was reinstated in February.)
The crane-making event bringing multiple generations of queer people together was just as important as the decorative outcome. “We are trying to bring that component of community to pride,” Soto said, at a time when “we’re experiencing an epidemic of loneliness.”
Olmo is also offering customers a chance to donate to the Pride Center at checkout, and will contribute profits from Pride-themed merchandise to the center as well.
Co-manager Megan Roberts.
Co-manager Raphael Bastek said he hopes Olmo will continue to collaborate with the Pride Center and other organizations. He noted that “for a lot of staff here,” Pride is “personal to them.”
That includes Megan Roberts, the other Olmo manager who initiated the collaboration. Roberts identifies as “part of the community” and grew up in “a town and a household that didn’t celebrate it as much.” After a successful year of bustling bagel sales, Roberts grew excited about the opportunity to take a meaningful stand in support of other queer people. “I wanted to do more than put up flags.”
Roberts anticipates leaving up the display and continuing the Pride Center partnership long past the end of June.
She hopes the cranes will send a message that “no matter where you’re coming from, when you walk into Olmo, it’s a safe space, no matter who you are.”
The New Haven Pride Center is open at 84 Orange Street for drop-in hours each week from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The organization offers case management, affinity groups, a food pantry, and a clothing closet, among a variety of other programs.
Go Pride Center Go!! Glad to know where Olmo stands. Let the cranes fly across our city.