Dear LGBTQ+ and Friends Community,

Hello everyone! This is our end-of-season e-mail. This e-mail is going to everyone who signed up to be on our e-mail list for LGBTQ+ and Friends at Chautauqua. It details LGBTQ+ and Friends activities and events in 2023.

Wow! This was a busy summer!

This was our 7th year of Marvelous Meet and Greets every Sunday at 6:30 on the porch of the Atheneum. A great big thank you to Karen James for organizing the hosts, and to all of the hosts for hosting! We had between 90 and 130 people each week, which is a lot.

Fabulous Brown Bag Discussion Groups with great themes on Tuesdays at 12:15 at the Literary Arts Center Garden Room. Thank you Catie Miller for once again doing a great job. We averaged about 30 people each week.

Community Activity Fairs on Sundays from noon to 1:30 in Bestor Plaza. Thank you, Bree Dietly for organizing the volunteers, and a big thank you to all the people who sat at our table, answered questions, and gave away taffy. Visibility makes a difference.

Pride on The Belle Wednesday, July 12. Thank you, Barbara Britton and DeDe Hughes. This was so fun! Food was good this year, and there was a larger variety of wines. Justin Schmitz and Matt Hart did the play list. We sold out at 75 tickets!

Panel: Understanding Gender: Medical and Personal Perspectives on Identity, Expression, and Transitioning Wednesday, August 2. This was a terrific event and was standing room only at Smith-Wilkes. Go here for a video of the event. A great big thank you goes out to MJ, Bob Jeffrey, and Karen Schiavone for organizing the event and to our panelists: MJ Johnston, Dr. Alejandro Diaz, MD, Makayla Watson, and Laura Currie, and to Terry Horner for Introductions. If you missed it, I really do recommend the video on our website. It was professionally recorded by John Viehe (thank you John!) and is of very high quality. Also, a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Mollie Merchant and MJ for hosting a reception and dinner for the panelists and others after the event.

Intermezzo Gathering after Theater, Friday, August 4. This was the 2nd year of doing this event and is the brainchild of Terry Horner. Many members of LGBTQ+ and Friends attended a theater event (tiny father) and then gathered afterwards at Intermezzo to meet the cast and crew, and share food and drink. Thank you, Terry for thinking it up, organizing it, and marketing it. It was so fun, and it is definitely in our plans for next year!

Gloria Swansong Lecture: Why is Drag so Controversial Today? Wednesday, August 16. This was again a great lecture by Ms. Gloria! And was also standing room only at Smith-Wilkes. A video is on our website lgbtqchq.com. Educational events such as this one, and the Gender Panel, are so important in the sometimes regressive sociopolitical times in which we are living. Thank you to Barbara Britton and MJ for organizing the event and curating Gloria’s visit to Chautauqua. Also thank you to Mama Naytch for Introductions! And once again, THANK YOU to Mollie Merchant and MJ for hosting a reception and dinner for Gloria and others after the event.

All in all, we sponsored over 30 events over 9 weeks in 2023. It was a lot, but also a lot of fun! And we are so grateful that so many more members of our community are stepping up into leadership roles.

I also want to send a special shout-out to Sarah James, who provided such lovely music and ambiance at 3 Taps and at 2 Ames. She created environments for many of us to gather and get to know each other in smaller, more informal groups. Thank you!

Also, thank you so very, very much to MJ and Barbara Britton for managing changes/additions to our website and Facebook page.

And finally, many thanks to those of you who wrote us checks to cover various expenses. We also had many volunteers, with some participating in several (or all!) of the events. LGBTQ+ and Friends is totally self-funded and we appreciate any donations you can make to the group to help fund our continuing activities as well as our website maintenance costs. Donations to LGBTQ+ and Friends at Chautauqua are not tax-deductible. If you would like to donate, please make out your check to:

LGBTQ and Friends at Chautauqua

And then mail the check to:
Hughes/Britton
300 Carlsbad Village Drive
Suite 108A-359
Carlsbad, CA 92008

We hope everyone has a lovely fall and winter. We are so looking forward to seeing you all in 2024! Keep an eye on our website to see what events we will be sponsoring next year.

Thank you! And until next year --

LGBTQ+ and Friends at Chautauqua