AUSTIN, Texas — Jerry Jo Benson is quite fond of Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin.
“The gardens here look very much like the gardens in Japan,” he said.
Benson, a Navy veteran, was deployed to Japan during his time in the military.
As much as it reminds him of what he calls his second home, it’s also a place for Benson to reflect. And recently, it was one of the places he could muster up some energy to get outdoors and exercise.
“While I was going through radiation treatment, I came here,” Benson said.
Benson recalls feeling a tightness in his neck late last year. Assuming it was just a neck strain, he scheduled a massage, only to be told he should visit a doctor.
“Where it was on my neck, it (tumor) was pushing against my carotid artery,” Benson said, pointing to a scar on the left side of his neck.
Doctors informed Benson he had a rare form of cancer.
“I went into it with the mindset that I was going to get through it,” Benson said. “Honestly, in some ways that’s when I started working on the community center.”
Benson joined the city of Austin’s LGBTQ Quality of Life Advisory Commission while undergoing radiation therapy. The commission is made up of around 15 people when all spots are filled. The group put forth Benson to speak on the community center, saying he has been a trailblazer in pushing for a LGBTQ community center forward.
“This is something that’s a community center first and LGBTQ focus second,” Benson said.
City records show a community center has been discussed as far back as 2016.
“There is a will in the community, there is a will in council, there is a will with our community partners to see this happen, so I think the time is right in a lot of ways,” Benson said.
Texas has more than 20 resource centers across the state according to lgbtqcenters.org. While there are organizations offering specific services in Austin, there’s no all-in-one community center.
“This is a way that we can leave something, like this park, that future generations and other people can enjoy and that will make living here a little bit better,” Benson said.
City Council approved a feasibility study for the community center in August when approving the budget. However, the study is being funded out of the previous year’s budget. Benson continues to serve on the Quality of Life Advisory Commission and is now cancer free.
