A judge granted a motion to protect a New Jersey LGBT community center from eviction while a discrimination lawsuit against its landlord moves forward.
In November, QSpot filed a discrimination lawsuit claiming the Jersey Shore Arts Center would not renew the center’s lease at its Ocean Grove facility as an act of bias toward the LGBT community. New Jersey Superior Court Judge Dennis O’Brien granted the motion for a preliminary injunction April 4, halting the eviction, and denied JSAC’s request to dismiss the case.
“We’re grateful that the court granted QSpot’s request, which will allow us to stay in our home and hold QFest [New Jersey LGBT Film and Digital Media Festival] while our discrimination case against the Jersey Shore Arts Center proceeds forward,” QSpot Executive Director John Mikytuck said in a statement. “We want to assure everyone in the community that QSpot will remain open and accessible as a safe haven, place of support and a social and cultural gathering spot until our lawsuit has concluded.”
In May, JSAC notified QSpot that the organization’s lease would not be renewed at the end of the year due to a lack of arts and education programs, which are part of the lease’s requirement, according to court documents.
“Our primary argument was, and continues to be, that QSpot does provide robust arts and education programming and therefore should be allowed to remain in the building,” Mikytuck said at a Sept. 24, 2016, QSpot Town Hall.
Mikytuck noted at the town hall that QSpot took steps such as meetings and mediations with JSAC to have the decision reconsidered. He said officials never offered QSpot a new lease during those discussions.
On June 18, QSpot received a letter from JSAC demanding the center remove a rainbow flag hanging at the entrance to honor the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting the previous week. Mikytuck noted at the town hall that QSpot had hung three large signs displaying the rainbow flag in the last year and were never asked to take them down.
“So, why this time?” Mikytuck posed. “I think the answer is obvious: This was the first time QSpot had ever hung a wellknown symbol of the LGBT community at our door.”
Representatives from JSAC declined to comment on the story but referred to their own filing in response to QSpot’s claims. In the filing, JSAC noted that Ronnie Cole, the fire marshal of Ocean Grove, “noticed the illegally draped flag and told [JSAC Executive Director Herbert Herbst] that the flag must be taken down immediately because it created a safety hazard.”
The filing also noted that QSpot did not request approval from the JSAC president and therefore violated the lease. However, JSAC still allowed QSpot to hang the flag for six days following the Pulse shooting.
Additionally, JSAC noted seven unapproved performances that were allegedly in violation of QSpot’s lease, which states the center must seek approval from the JSAC president if a performance is not held in the JSAC theaters or lobby.