LGBTQ Cafe Hosting Karaoke Day In Summit Sunday

SUMMIT, NJ - Cafe Q, a safe place for LGBTQ middle-schoolers and teens to meet and hang out, is hosting a karaoke day for their final get-together before summer break on Sunday.

Festivities are set to run from 3 p.m. through 5 p.m.

There will be a karaoke machine, but guests can step up to the microphone to share a joke or a magic trick, or play an instrument. There will be snacks and pizza and sweet treats.

Café Q is a non-denominational meeting place for LGBTQ teens from Summit and surrounding towns to drop in to meet new people, listen to music, enjoy some snacks, and just hang out in a safe and comfortable environment. According to Janice Masvidal, the chairperson for Cafe Q, during the synagogue's Pride Month event last year people told their coming out stories, including one 17-year-old girl.

"The Rabbi asked/stated -' this event is nice and our support of the GLBTQ community is strong, but besides this and the displaying of a rainbow flag, what else can we be doing?'" Masvidal said. "The mother of the 17-year-old described how there was no place for her daughter to meet other teens who were GLBTQ. There are groups and organizations pointed at college age and adult communities but younger teens are not served. The idea of Cafe Q sprang out of that conversation."

Beth Hatikvah president Cindy Wetter said the Café Q arose out of her daughter's experience. When a search for social opportunities outside of school for LGBTQ kids turned up nothing within a reasonable distance of their home in Chatham, Wetter suggested to her congregation that the synagogue offer something for local teens.

"A place where kids can be who they are or who they want to be," Wetter said.

According to Masvidal, the idea was approved immediately.

Café Q is staffed and chaperoned by members of Beth Hatikvah who are themselves gay or are parents of LGBTQ children. Wetter said that it is important for kids to see adults who are out and moving successfully in the world. Masvidal, the group's chairperson, lives with her wife, Carol Sullivan, in Maplewood.

"More young people are coming to terms with their sexuality and gender identity earlier in life, and they can often feel alienated from their peer groups, reluctant to speak to straight and cis-gender people about what they're experiencing," Masvidal said. "We think they should have a safe place where they can meet other kids who understand what they're going through and where they can just relax and be themselves."

And as far as they can see, not only is Cafe Q the only game in town, it is the only game for many towns.

"As far as we know there is only one other organization like this and it is located in Cresskill. We want anyone from anywhere to come," Masvidal said.

Masvidal said that the congregation does not have a way to vet adult volunteers from outside the synagogue so for the time being they are restricting adult volunteers who work with the kids. But that doesn't mean that they don't want support and feedback.

"People with ideas , money, skill can talk with us about how they best can get involved in those ways," Masvidal said.

Congregation Beth Hatikvah, located at 36 Chatham Road in Summit, plans to run the café every third Sunday of the month, from 3-5 p.m. As the project evolves, the teens themselves will help to determine Café Q's future activities.

For more information, email cafeQ@bethhatikvah.org.

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