The leaders of several area lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and allied (LGBTQA) groups have decided to meet quarterly to talk about community needs and collaborate efforts.

“The goal is for the LGBT community to be working together to have increased collaboration and focus our energy and efforts to mutual programs and events,” said Sherry Tripepi, executive director of Equality Toledo.

The group, which is still deciding on a name, had its first meeting in October and its next meeting will be Jan. 16.

“There was good energy within the group to meet quarterly and combine efforts,” Tripepi said of the initial meeting.

Among the groups involved are Equality Toledo, PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), Rainbow Area Youth, Pride of Toledo Foundation, Transgender Support Group and more. Potential long-term plans include collaborating to start an LGBTQA community center, which will be discussed at the Jan. 16 meeting, Tripepi said.

Lexi Staples, executive director of the Pride of Toledo Foundation, said she is excited about the collaboration.

“Everyone is trying to do something good for the gay community, but now we’re coming together, which I think is super important and very exciting for us,” Staples said. “There are a lot of ways we can help each other.”

Leaders of any LGBTQA groups are welcome to get involved. For more information, contact Sherry Tripepi at (419) 407-6225 or info@equalitytoledo.org.

Tags: Equality Toledo, Lexi Staples, Pride of Toledo Foundation, Sherry Tripepi

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 1:40 pm and is filed under Community, Gay pride.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.