At The Lancaster LGBTQ+ Coalition, we are committed to building a supportive and enriching community abundant in opportunities for LGBTQQIA+ individuals and those with a stake in creating a more inclusive Lancaster County.
Join us for a viewing and panel discussing Julia Scotti: Funny That Way at 6 PM on Wednesday, November 16 at the Ware Center!
With breathtaking emotional honesty, this tender, funny, and powerful portrait of transgender comedian Julia Scotti explores the unrelenting courage and humor it takes to be Julia. This film tracks Julia’s triumphant journey as comedy becomes the shared language of identity, healing, and joy.
From 6:15 to 6:50, join us for a community panel discussion of the film, followed by a screening at 7 PM. Stick around after the screening for a LIVE Post-Show Q&A with filmmaker Susan Sandler and Julia Scotti herself via Zoom! Panelists include:
Joanne M. Carroll (she/her/hers), Executive Director, Trans Advocacy PA; Co-Chair, Keystone Conference; Commissioner, PA Commission on LGBT%Q Affairs and Member of Penn Central Conference of the UCC, Open and Affirming Ministry Team
Rachel “Glitch” SteelHeart (she/they), Program Director here at Lancaster LGBTQ+ Coalition
Dr. Blaise Liffick, Director of Operations, Silent Witness
J Whitlow (he/him), Director of Campus Life, Millersville University
Reserve your FREE ticket by phone at 717-871-7600 or online at artsmu.com, or pick one up at the door one hour before showtime!
Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel this event. Stay tuned for future announcements! Tickets are now available to join Lancaster LGBTQ+ Coalition in our celebration of Queer identity, found family, our upcoming fourth anniversary, and the spooky season at our SLAY event at the Imperial Terrace on Friday, October 28th! Doors open at 7 PM
They say Halloween is Queer Christmas, and we’re ready to celebrate! Support the Coalition and celebrate our THIRD ANNIVERSARY and FIRST EVER Halloween fundraiser bash: SLAY!!
Honorees and Coalition Staff pose in front of a backdrop at 2021’s GAYLAAttendees party at our 2021 GAYLA
Dine on a spread to die for on the Imperial Terrace, sip on signature spirits, pose in your freak it dress for Michelle Johnsen Photography, and slay the dance floor with DJ GIGI!
We’re featuring surprise guests, spooky prizes, and swag for days, darling. ALL are welcome Gaybies and minors must be accompanied by a guardian
In order to protect our vulnerable immunocompromised population, masking is highly recommended for this in-person event. Attendees must be vaccinated against Covid-19.
With an upcoming Mainheim school board discussion involving the “integrity” of athletics, it’s become once again important for us all to voice our support for trans athletes’ participation in the sports teams of their gender.
Peer-reviewed data and expert testimony overwhelmingly show that exclusion from athletics based on gender has adverse effects, and there’s no medical standing to exclude trans athletes.
Please consider sharing your professional expertise (medical, social, psychological, etc) and/or your expectations of Manheim Township School District regarding the treatment of all students via email to the board at boardsecretary@mtwp.net.
Board discussion will take place on September 8th at 7pm in the district office.
In February 2021, the National Coalition for Women & Girls in Education issued a statement supporting transgender and nonbinary students’ full and equal participation in all education programs and activities, including sports. Making a talking point out of gender inclusivity in sports has never been about fairness or competition—it’s a thinly-veiled push to exclude trans people from society and perpetuate a culture that sees trans identities as shameful. To imply that these students bring a lack of integrity to athletics is a repulsive notion. It can not and must not gain traction.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Evidence for Action Program has funded an international study to understand the experiences and needs of transgender and gender diverse young people in the United States as compared to the Netherlands.
This study is a partnership between Children’s National Hospital (Washington, D.C.), VU University (Amsterdam, the Netherlands), and US and Dutch experts in trans health and equity.
The study is open to transgender and gender diverse youth who are 11-16 years old. The study is conducted fully online and takes a total of about 3 hours to complete, split across 3 shorter sessions.
Families are compensated $200 for their time.
The questions included in the study focus on strengths, areas of challenge, and hopes for the future. The ultimate goal of this work is to inform improved care for youth in the United States, including greater access to the supports youth may need.
Pronouns can sometimes be a signifier for someone’s gender identity but not always. We do not want to assume people’s gender identity based on expression (typically shown through clothing, hairstyle, mannerisms etc.) By providing an opportunity for people to share their pronouns, you’re showing that you’re not assuming that their gender identity is based on their appearance.
If you don’t know what pronouns to use, ask. A simple way to see what pronouns someone uses—he, she, they, or something else—is to wait and see if it comes up naturally in conversation. If you’re still unsure, ask politely and respectfully, without making a big deal about it. Sharing your own pronouns is a great way to bring up the topic—for example, “Hi, I’m Rebecca and I use she/her/hers as my pronouns. How about you?” If you accidentally use the wrong pronouns, apologize and move on. Making a big deal out of a pronoun mistake may be awkward and often draws unwanted attention to the transgender person.
iHeartRadio and P&G’s Can’t Cancel Pride 2022 – Proud AND Together. A fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ community celebrating visibility and inclusivity for all.
P&G and iHeartMedia join forces again for the return of Can’t Cancel Pride 2022 – Proud AND Together, the third annual fundraising event bringing together the most influential voices in the LGBTQ+ community as well as the biggest names in culture and entertainment. The event is hosted by JoJo Siwa and will focus on the challenges and celebrations of “The Year in Pride,” showcasing twelve months of community and activism and the issues that continue to impact the LGBTQ+ community in 2022, as well as intersectional messages of spirit and strength.
Tune in today for performances by Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Anitta Dove Cameron, Kim Petras, Betty Who, and more
Join us at the Loop on Sunday, June 12 from 6-7PM for an affirming, non-gendered conversation about birthing and doula services free from binary language. This event is geared toward the unique pregnancy experiences of LGBTQ+ birthing people, and will be led by Rae Johnson-Bundy & Madhumitha Rajakittu Pudupatti.
Masks are required for the in-person event. Can’t join in person? Feel free to attend our digital simulcast!
Madhumitha Rajakittu PudupattiRae Johnson-Bundy
Rae Johnson-Bundy, certified Doula Trainer and Mentor, Lamaze Childbirth Educator, Evidenced Based Birth Instructor and a Certified Birth Doula (CD) DONA at Doula Right Thing. As a Birth and Postpartum Doula Trainer for National Black Doula Associates (NBDA), Black Childbirth Educator and Doula she supports and brings awareness to the much needed maternal health care People of Color are facing today.
Madhumitha Rajakittu Pudupatti, National Black Doula Associates (NBDA), Certified Birth Doula at Guiding Hand Doula. As a Woman of Color, immigrant navigating in a different culture, birth professional, and mother herself, she has experienced and witnessed situations not completely respectful to the birthing person. She strives to support birthing people from the experience of a Person of Color, and through her program strives to reach Communities of Color, bring awareness to Maternal Health, and represent POC during pregnancy and bring in the respect they deserve for their values, beliefs, and choices.
On June 5th, 2022 Lancaster LGBTQ+ Coalition launched The Loop: Central Pennsylvania’s first nonprofit community hub. Along with the Coalition’s LGBTQ+ center, this space will house multiple other nonprofit agencies led by or serving BIPOC communities including:
Patients R Waiting
Common Wheel
NAACP
Raiz
Latino Empowerment Project
Union Community Care
Our 1-3 year plan includes a free health clinic focused on LGBTQ+ proficiency, spearheaded by Lancaster LGBTQ+ Health Consortium.
This space will represent a true powerhouse of individuals and leading nonprofits working with vulnerable populations coalescing to create meaningful progress towards an equitable Lancaster County.
The Loop will represent a fully affirming location where all intersections of our community will be served among the growing services of the Coalition. This will include youth programming, a transgender and nonbinary support group, library and community connection space, case management services, legal support, educational opportunities, and a low-cost health clinic.
Lancaster LGBTQ+ Coalition’s HEART Program is a subsidized communal housing model that provides a supporting home, resources, case management, and skills training so that vulnerable LGBTQ+ community members can truly thrive.
A primary focus and cornerstone of services is HEART’s SEED (Social Emotional Enrichment Development) Program, ensuring that individuals experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of becoming homeless can receive culturally competent case management and referral services. This program was developed to serve the residents of our HEART Program.
Queer Health Advocacy Alliance
We will be working along with Dr. Lake from Comprehensive Health, Penn Medicine and Dr. Sharee Livingston, representing UPMC & Patients R Waiting to identify and connect LGBTQ+ proficient healthcare providers, while conducting and influencing research for Central Pennsylvania and all intersections of the LGBTQ+ community.
Even more important as we know:
In 2019, 56% of LGBTQ+ individuals reported facing discrimination in healthcare settings
In 2020 this number increased to 61%
Stage Q
Among our many enrichment and educational offerings, The Loop presents Stage Q; a welcoming space for emerging artists to share their talents.
We are grateful for the opportunity to make this dream a reality with your support. This kind of collective effort from established entities and community stakeholders emboldens our mission toward true equity in action. This is a monumental step towards creating a Lancaster County where we all live full, courageous, and authentic lives. Thank you for your help in making history!
Stonewall Inn (Source: Diana Davies/ New York Public Library)
The Stonewall Riots, also called the Stonewall Uprising, began in the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village in New York City. The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar on Christopher Street, in neighboring streets and in nearby Christopher Park. The Stonewall Riots served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
[…]
Armed with a warrant, police officers entered the club [Stonewall Inn], roughed up patrons, and, finding bootlegged alcohol, arrested 13 people, including employees and people violating the state’s gender-appropriate clothing statute (female officers would take suspected cross-dressing patrons into the bathroom to check their sex).
History.com – Stonewall Riots
Christopher Street Liberation Day (Source: Leonard Fink)
On the one-year anniversary of the riots on June 28, 1970, thousands of people marched in the streets of Manhattan from the Stonewall Inn to Central Park in what was then called “Christopher Street Liberation Day,” America’s first gay pride parade. The parade’s official chant was: “Say it loud, gay is proud.”
Marsha P. Johnson (Source: Ron Johnson/Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture)
Marsha P. Johnson, a self-identified drag queen and a prominent gay liberation activist, is one of the most well-known participants in the Stonewall uprising. After Stonewall, her activism continued—she joined the Gay Liberation Front, ACT UP, and cofounded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with Sylvia Rivera. (Johnson also referred to herself as a “transvestite,” and never used “transgender” to describe her gender identity, since the term was popularized after her death in 1992.)
Smithsonian Institute – Marsha Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and the history of Pride Month
Sylvia Rivera with Christina Hayworth and Julia Murray (Source: Luis Carle/National Portrait Gallery)
Rivera was also involved in Stonewall, and the experience led her to campaign with the Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) for a city nondiscrimination law. But Rivera, who was a transgender woman and Latina, faced discrimination from established gay rights organizations like the GAA that were predominantly led by white men. The GAA’s leadership often rejected the role transgender people—many of them people of color—played in Stonewall.
Smithsonian Institute – Marsha Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and the history of Pride Month
Gaybies and minors must be accompanied by a guardian
