Sandusky Pride honors former Club X owner

SANDUSKY — Locals honored a Sandusky pioneer for championing the equal rights movement in its early days as he opened an all-inclusive nightclub, celebrated change and embraced freedom in diversity.Harvey Heys received the first Sandusky Pride Honors Award "for recognition of tremendous contribution to the LGBTQ community and its allies towards the movement of equality for all within the city of Sandusky, Ohio."The award presentation took place Thursday at the Sandusky State Theatre during Sandusky Pride's first event, which honored Jim Obergefell, a 1984 Sandusky High School graduate, who helped legalize same-sex marriages nationwide.For about 30 years, and up until about a decade ago, Heys operated Club X-Centricities, also known as Club X. The Shore House Tavern occupies this space today."It gave people a home," Heys said. "It was a place to go to. It was safe and fun for people"Sandusky Pride organizers called Club X a "safe haven" for people who lived outside the margins of mainstream society. Club X gave individuals who felt isolated a place where they could be loved and accepted."Club X was a safe community where you can be yourself," said Robin Hudnall, one of the organizers for Sandusky Pride. "It wasn't just about the LGBTQ thing. It was for anybody who was accepting, anybody who was for equality, who believed we are all human at the end of the day. Harvey held the door for them. And he did this when, at the time, it was so unheard of, and it was against all odds and against popular belief."Hudnall believed Heys deserved the award because he went up against popular beliefs, starting in the 1980s. He effectively held the door open for everybody, no matter race, sexual orientation, class or gender, Hudnall said."He has the backbone to stand up against that and say, 'Hey you know what? This is us, and you are welcomed here. You can come here, and you will be safe.' Without Harvey Heys, a lot of us would not be who and what we are to this day."Email us at news@sanduskyregister.com. Follow us on Twitter @SanduskyRegistr and on Facebook facebook.com/sanduskyregister.Sandusky resident Harvey Heys, who owned the former Club X, received the first Sandusky Pride Honors Award for acting as a local pioneer for equal rights,