During Pride this year, Visit Pittsburgh, in cooperation with the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh sponsored a media tour which brought LGBT media persons from across the country here to see and write about Pittsburgh. Overwhelmingly, they shared the singular experience of “discovering” why Pittsburgh deserves the ranking as the 5th gayest city. Many of us who live here, know we have something special, while at times because war are so close to it, we may fail to grasp it all. These fresh eyes, from many other wonderful cities confirmed that this is a great place to live or visit.

But is that enough to be a great place? Maybe for some, while others want to see us keep building upon what we have to be an even greater place for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, trans, and everyone else. Toward that end, Raydon Sorock has been working away gathering ideas and orchestrating the construction of a 5 year plan for LGBTQ Pittsburgh. Part of this endeavor will take place during the Creating Change conference this Fall, but to get a head start, he is inviting members of the LGBTQ community to a planning session:

What: LGBTQ Community 5-year Plan Focus Group

Where: Important Location Change:

Gay & Lesbian Community Center 210 Grant St. Downtown Pittsburgh

UCP, 4638 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

When: Tuesday August 30th from 7:00-9:00pm

RSVP by: Tuesday August 23rd

Contact: Rayden Sorock rsorock@coropittsburgh.org (412) 208-0250

Here’s how he describes this:

You are invited to attend a focus group meeting on August 30th from 7-9pm to begin designing a 5-year plan for the Pittsburgh-area LGBTQ community.
As some of you may know, this fall brings the first ever Building Change conference. The conference will take place from Oct. 13th-15th and has the overarching goal to advance the social change and justice movement in the Southwestern Pennsylvania region. One of the major outcomes of the conference is a comprehensive 5-year plan for the region.

More info:www.buildingchangewpa.org  trcf@trcfwpa.org (412)-243-9250

By holding at least one focus group prior to the conference to discuss what a 5-year plan would look like for the LGBT community in the region, we can get a head start before the conference and ensure wider community input. Plus we can get a head start on putting our recommendations into practice. Plus, it will be fun!