Next Up: Queer Families

This Gather will explore what it is like for families who have at least two queer members. Panelists will include women who identify as lesbian and/or queer and have family members who are queer as well. For those of us who always wished we had a gay mom/dad or gay sister/brother, this is a discussion you don't want to miss!

Sunday, February 20th from 5pm - 7pm
LGBT Community Center
Room 102

Next Gather: Coming Out in Religious Communities

While the last Gather focused on coming out, we didn't get to discuss an important facet of this phenomena: coming out as a lesbian within religious communities and/or religious families.

Join us Sunday, February 21^th from 6:15pm - 8pm at the LGBT Community Center (Room 410, 208 West 13th Street, New York, NY).

*No photos will be taken at this Gather

Next Gather: Coming Out

Yay! The next Gather will take place on Sunday, December 6th at 5:15pm. Where? you may ask...the LGBT Community Center in Room 312.

Stairway access to this room only...sorry, but will have wine and treats there to reward your effort. Let's share our stories, reminisce about stories past, and talk about if the process of coming out is ever complete.

Find this Gather on Meetup >

Da Bears

I’ve always found Andrew Sullivan interesting. I used to read his blog on a daily basis, largely because he devoted time to talking about gay politics. Although, he did introduce me to The Christmas Tree, and for that I am forever grateful.

I recently read his article, I am bear, hear me roar! in Salon about one of the fastest growing subcultures in the gay community, Bears. Sullivan, a snuggly one himself, describes bears as men who do not stereotypically come off as gay: they are hairy with big round pot bellies, wear flannel, have facial hair (sometimes lots of it), and are friendly and warm in demeanor. Sullivan says "Bears at their most typical look like regular, beer-drinking, unkempt men in their 30s, 40s and 50s. They have guts. They have furry backs. They don't know what cologne is and they tend not to wear deodorant." Strangely, this sounds like all my friend's dads. And it’s not just how the look, bears are bears because of the way they carry themselves.

So this article got me thinking, what are the subcultures within the lesbian community? Beyond the butch and femme dichotomy, are we carving out new ways of being? Maybe the L Word proposed an East v. West coast lesbian…but I’m not sure what that looks like exactly. Will we create subcultures based on class? Education level? In any case, I'll keep my eyes open to the possibilities. Although, I do have a hunch that we are going to be seeing some lesbian mommy groups pop up REAL soon...betcha.