All College Hour Speaker and alumnus Michael Venturiello ‘13 spoke at his lecture on Wednesday, Nov. 6 about his experience at Geneseo and how it helped him find and connect with his inner self (Courtesy of Xavier Delcid/Photo Editor).
Home is not always a physical location but rather where you have your favorite memories with the people who love you and where you feel the most like yourself. For Michael Venturiello ‘13, home has manifested itself in several ways throughout his life, beginning when he started at Geneseo in 2009 and most recently when he founded the first LGBTQ-focused walking tour in New York City. As the second All-College Hour speaker of the year, Venturiello spoke on Wednesday Nov. 6 about LGBTQ history and how he’s found his footing in life, thanks in part to the people who have come before him.
“Really what I’m here to talk about is my story, where I came from,” Venturiello said. “I want to talk about what home means to me, what it means to you.”
Venturiello graduated from Geneseo in 2013 as an English literature major, despite having tried out a variety of majors including anthropology, sociology and psychology. From there, he received a fellowship from the University of Buffalo to study higher education. While at UB, Venturiello completed his graduate thesis on the Stonewall Uprising, a days-long protest in June 1969 that is credited with kicking off the modern gay rights movement.
This thesis inspired Venturiello to write a novel based on Stonewall and moving to New York City in 2016—where the Stonewall riots took place—provided the perfect backdrop to research for his book.
It was while conducting this research that Venturiello realized there was no accessible walking tours in the city that concentrated solely on LGBTQ history. Any tours that did exist were either very expensive or only offered during the month of June, which is National LGBTQ Month. Out of this, Christopher Street Tours was born, founded by Venturiello to “share stories and uplift voices from those who paved the way before us” in the LGTBQ community.
The walking tour company is named after Christopher Street, where the Stonewall Inn is located. There are a variety of tours that cover different facets of the LGTBQ community, from its history to iconic drag landmarks to the oldest gay bars in the city. In alignment with the company’s mission, the tours are free for LGBTQ youth and youth groups.
Venturiello credits his time at Geneseo for equipping him with the skills and confidence to start his own business in New York City.
“Geneseo allowed me to be my true authentic self,” he said. “Where would I be as the owner of an LGBT company if Geneseo didn’t allow me to be my true self?”
While at Geneseo, Venturiello was a resident assistant, a tour guide and an intern in the Department of Student Life. He also founded Hippies for Hope, which was his first introduction to being an entrepreneur. Venturiello feels, however, that while at Geneseo, he never really saw any representation of healthy, queer relationships but moving to New York City allowed him to learn more about the community in a city where so much of its history is based.
Moving to New York City and researching for his novel has allowed Venturiello to also find a home in LGBTQ history and describes it as lifesaving. “History is not just about stuffy textbooks. These are real stories about real people … If activists can create social change because they feel a need in the community, then so can I,” he said.
Venturiello wrapped up his talk reflecting on the lessons he’s learned and the people who have helped him get where he is today; those close to him and the LGBTQ activists who paved the way years ago. He advised the audience to “follow the breadcrumbs,” acknowledging that everything he’s done in life—at Geneseo, post-Geneseo and in New York City—has led him to this point.
Venturiello closed with wise words of advice for those in attendance.
“Don’t be scared, don’t be afraid to feel lost. You have people in your life to support you. It’s easy to walk across that stage and be like ‘kudos to me, I did it.’ But a big part is thinking about the people who have gotten us to where we are today, thinking about the people who paved the way before us,” he said.