It’s One Big Event in CT. It’s marking two major milestones and ‘a good time to celebrate’
The Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective marks two important milestones this weekend when it stages its annual bash, One Big Event.
It’s not only the 21st anniversary of the fundraising spectacular, it also marks the 40th anniversary of the collective itself.
“It’s a very dressy moment,” said longtime event chair E. John McGarvey. “It’s just really a good time to celebrate our community, a place where everybody can be exactly who they need to be.”
McGarvey was involved when One Big Event debuted back in the early aughts.
“It was supposed to be a one-time thing,” he said. “A celebration for our 20-year anniversary.”
But it turned out to be such a success, both as a fundraiser and as a celebration, “that I called the executive director the Monday after the event and said, ’you know what? This needs to be our annual fundraiser.’”
And that’s how it became a yearly fixture on the Hartford calendar.
Over the two decades of its existence, One Big Event has amassed a who’s who of corporate sponsors and a starry list of local notables to its honorary committee.
The very first event attracted 225 attendees. Just before the pandemic, One Big Event was regularly welcoming 400 guests. The goal this year is to raise $200,000, about 20 percent of the Collective’s annual operating budget.
“We’re very lucky to be living in a state that is open and affirming for everybody,” said McGarvey, “but that’s not the way it is across the country.”
He points to the huge recent increase in anti-trans and anti-gay measures in many states, saying it takes a toll on the LGBTQ community even here.
“The rhetoric being what it is and the way it’s delivered now through social media mostly, it’s harming our kids,” he said. “The health collective is not a political organization, but we do deal with the mental health of our community. And these kind of things definitely affect mental health.”
The Health Collective was founded in the 1980s by all-volunteer medical staff as a response to the AIDS crisis. In the years since it has taken on full- and part-time staff, and provided a wide range of medical and dental services, support groups, and health education.
This year it has a new executive director, David Grant, who was formerly with Mayor Luke Bronin’s administration and then worked for Hartford Public Schools.
He describes his new role as his dream job.
“I grew up in a very traditional Mexican American household, and so I was raised Catholic,” he said. “When I came out, it was very difficult, but the one community that embraced me was the LGBTQIA+ community. So it’s always been important to me to give back to people who have given me so much.”
Grant has helped the Collective complete and begin implementing a new strategic plan that will see it expand its services into new areas.
“We’re trying to be innovative in the way that we approach health care and wellness,” he said.
They want to partner with homeless shelters, senior centers and faith-based communities to offer services, particularly around HIV. The strategic plan will also see a renewed focus on addressing mental health issues.
“I think that organizations like ours are here not only to serve and not only to ensure healthy communities by providing services to folks, but also to fight back against some of the rhetoric and some of the negative stigmas that exist,” said Grant. “My goal is to make sure that people have access to equitable health care services.”
He says One Big Event is an integral part of ensuring that can happen by giving the Collective the necessary resources to expand its operational footprint.
For John McGarvey, the event is also significant as a celebration of the LGBTQ community’s place within Hartford and Connecticut.
“We always want to thank the people that are not in our community that pave the path for our equality,” he said. “Because we would not ever have equality if it wasn’t for our allies and the non-LGBTQ community.”
One Big Event begins at 6 p.m., Saturday Nov. 11, at the Hartford Marriott Downtown. For more information, visit https://cbo.io/bidapp/index.php?slug=onebigevent.