General Comments

The three tenents of Pride Lafayette's strategic plan are: Pride, Service, and Diversity. Newcomers to the LGBTI community are often surprised at the diversity within our community. We are people of different colors, sexual orientations, gender identities, beliefs, professions, and histories. We draw strength from celebrating this diversity among us. This page is devoted to our efforts to maximize inclusion and create a welcoming space for all people.

Each section of the page is devoted to one of the major groups in our community. We seek to support each of these groups in some way. If you have ideas for how we can improve this effort, please use our contact form to send us a message.

Check out this Wikipedia article for definitions of some of the terms used on this page.

For information about diversity efforts in the Lafayette-West Lafayette Community, be sure to check out the LWLDC Diversity Roundtable.

Allies

Some would say we that we have the potential to draw our greatest strength from our allies, but yet we often ignore or marginalize the allies who try to work with us and support us. The self-segration we tend to impose as we go through the coming out process probably contributes to this, particularly in bad coming out experiences where we find no allies outside the LGBT community. We feel its important to welcome our allies into our space and our events. We cannot survive in isolation, and we need the talents and wisdom that they can bring to us and our community.

To this end we are beginning an ally training program and discussion group. Please see the community calendar for more information and dates/times. We now have an email list for allies interested in assisting us with building our ally training program. To join the list please use our contact form to send us a message.

See our Allies page for even more information directed to allies.

Lesbians

We support the lesbian women in our community by providing tools and resources for coordinating social activities that help bring women together to get to know one another. Please see the community calendar for details on upcoming dates and times.

Lesbians may also choose to sign up for our women's discussion list. Please use our contact form to send us a message requesting to be added to the list.

Gay Men

We also support the gay men in our community by providing tools and resources for coordinating social activities that help bring men together to get to know one another. Please see the community calendar for details on upcoming dates and times. Currently, there is no email list specifically for men.

Bisexuals

Bisexuals in the community can often be overlooked and marginalized in the LGBTI community. We would like to support area bisexuals by offering a monthly discussion group where issues unique to bisexuals can be discussed. The discussion group would be open to all bisexuals regardless of relationship status. If you're interested in joining or helping to form such a group, please use our contact form to send us a message.

Transgenders

We offer the Trans Lafayette Support Group for anyone identifying as a CD (Cross Dresser), TG(Transgender), Intersex, pre-op, post-op, non-op, Transman or GenderQueer or a Spouse, SO (Significant Other), Ally or friend of any one of these groups. See our Transgender page for more information about the meetings and when the group meets.

Intersexuals

Intersex people in our community are another overlooked group, but they are among us and contribute to the diversity of our community. According to statistics from the Intersex Society of North America, 1 in 100 people are born with bodies that differ from the standard male and female. People who identify as intersex are included under the transgender umbrella. As such, our Trans Lafayette group mentioned above seeks to also support the needs of intersex individuals in our community.

Multiple Identities

Many of us fit not into just one group but many groups. Some of us fit into multiple groups above while others are also members of ethnic groups or other under-represented groups that can be targets of oppression and problems resulting from a lack of awareness, such as people with disabilities. People in multiple groups that experience bigotry can have unique experiences and challenges. Besides sometimes needing additional support from the community, they also have the potential to bring special strengths to us through their experiences across multiple social boundaries.