There is a quote that sums up Robt Martin Seda-Schreiber’s guiding principle as an advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community and other marginalized groups.
“We will never speak for anyone, but with everyone.”
Seda-Schreiber, the chief activist at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice in Princeton, has been named a LGBTQIA+ History Month icon by the Equality Forum.
October has been celebrated as LGBT History Month since 1994. It acknowledges the achievements of 31 lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender icons – one for each day of the month. Seda-Schreiber was honored on Oct. 22.
Malcolm Lazin, the executive director of the Equality Forum, praised Seda-Schreiber.
“As a dedicated activist, organizer and educator, Robt Martin’s selection as an ‘out’ LGBTQIA+ History Month icon makes a significant civil rights statement of the important national and international contributions of the queer community,” Lazin said.
Seda-Schreiber, who founded the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice in 2018, said he was “extraordinarily honored and absolutely thrilled” to receive recognition as an icon.
“I think 55 years old might be a tad young to be named an icon, but this designation will now inspire me to be that much more dedicated to the intersectional beloved community that I am humbled to serve,” he said.
“Personally, as someone who proudly embraced my bisexuality later in life, I hope very much that this serves as a beacon for other folks who are on their own journeys of self-discovery as well,” he said.
Seda-Schreiber said that his advocacy work has never been done in a vacuum. Being honored as an icon allows the spotlight to shine even more brightly on the team at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, he said.
The center is named for gay civil rights leader Bayard Justin, who was an adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It offers support programs and dedicated safe space for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. It is staffed by volunteers.
Seda-Schreiber was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and raised in East Windsor Township. He taught art in the East Windsor Regional School District for 25 years.
The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice grew out of Seda-Schreiber’s efforts to support the gay and lesbian community, starting with the creation of the Gay-Straight Alliance at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School in the East Windsor Regional School District.
There were gay-straight alliances in other schools, but the Gay-Straight Alliance at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School was the first one in a middle school, Seda-Schreiber said.
“When I forged the first Gay-Straight Alliance in a middle school in New Jersey, it did not happen because of me nor did it originate with me,” he said.
“It was a student who came to my desk, sharing confidentially that they did not feel safe in our hallways,” Seda-Schreiber recalled. “They did not feel comfortable in our classrooms or welcome in the greater community.”
Seda-Schreiber approached school district officials, who supported his efforts to create the Gay-Straight Alliance at the middle school. Those efforts were supported by the administration, teachers and the New Jersey Education Association, he said.
The importance of the Gay-Straight Alliance cannot be emphasized enough, he said. It has helped many students who have grappled with their identities and made them feel supported.
Fast-forward 25 years, and Seda-Schreiber created the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice. He described the center, located at 12 Stockton St. in Princeton, as a community activist hub, educational bridge and safe space for LGBTQIA youth, intersectional families and all marginalized individuals and groups.
Programming at the center includes the Queer Youth Brigade, Defenders of the Right to Read, the annual PRIDE parade and after-party, and queer community gatherings.
“Most importantly, it is a dedicated safe space that is open every day. It is hosted by volunteers who are trained to welcome anyone and everyone who wants or needs our love and support,” Seda-Schreiber said.
The center attracts people from Princeton, Lawrence Township, East Windsor Township, Hightstown Borough, Montgomery Township and the Hopewell Valley communities.
“The irony in my work as the chief activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice is to put myself out of a job by creating a community, a society and a world where safe spaces no longer need to exist,” he said.
Seda-Schreiber said he is looking forward to a time when people – no matter how they identify or who they love – can walk down the street without fear or walk down a school hallway without anxiety and enter any room without hesitation or concern.
