The Westchester LGBTQ+ History Project

A now-retired public school art teacher and working artist, Mitchell Visoky has been living in Westchester County since the early 1980s. After learning of a local group for gay men through an entry in the phone book, he became involved in what would become a major part of his life and the lives of so many other locals: Westchester’s LGBTQ community center, The LOFT.

In this interview, Visoky recounts the early days and projects of the Gay Men’s Alliance of the Hudson Valley, one of the groups that would co-form the LOFT. He also delves into Westchester’s former gay bar scene and his own life and career.

To read the full transcript of this interview, click here.

But in those days, I think it was such an urgent thing we were doing for ourselves. I don’t even know if we thought of it as a community when we started. I mean, eventually we did, but I think everybody initially did it for themselves, and then it opened up to the community.

Mitchell Visoky