An internationally recognized charity, community outreach, and philanthropy organization now has its own LGBT+ faction.
On March 25, members of the Rotary Club of San Francisco Castro celebrated a turning point in their organization. They gained the official status of the fist LGBT+ Rotary Club in the nation.
The organization started humbly as a small branch of the international Rotary Club. After sister groups realized that the Castro/Noe Valley neighborhood in San Francisco needed some Rotary attention, the group was formed.
After splitting off from its sister group, members living in or near the area met twice a month (on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays) at member's house or the Sausage Factory restaurant nearby.
Soon, they found that their little group was slowly growing into a respectable organization with the goal of bettering the community.
As the group’s Facebook page states:
“The mission of Rotary is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.”
And the growing count of members belonging to the organization do just that. By participating in Pride Marches, holding speaker events and more, the members of Rotary Club of San Francisco Castro are bettering the community.
While the group has been around for minute now, their official “rebranding” as a LGBTQQ (queer and questioning) group allows them to have a primary focus on supporting the local LGBTQQ community.
As the San Francisco Chronicle reports:
“[The Rotary Club’s] initial support will go to three Castro-based nonprofits: Larkin Street Youth Services; Lyric, for young LGBTQQ (if you’re wondering about the double Q, it’s queer and questioning) Asian and Pacific Islanders; and Openhouse, which helps LGBT seniors.”
That said, if you live in the Castro/Noe Valley area and want to give back to the community yet you don’t identify as LGBTQQ, you can still join this organization.
Membership chair Gary Keener shared with the SFChronicle that although the club identifies as LGTBQQ, anyone is welcome to join them.
h/t: The San Francisco Chronicle
When you have to put in
When you have to put in brackets what your letters stand for (Queer and Questioning) perhaps you have too many letters!
Why can't we just say Queer, and leave it at that?! Seriously, if we keep adding letters, we might as well simply call ourselves AtoZ to ensure that no one is left out (and traumatised as a result).