For News of the Coalition and Upcoming Events of Interest
click on the link above to access the current newsletter.
There are lots of interesting Announcements below on this page, please scroll down.
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Steering Committee Meetings
are held on the 3rd Thursday of the month
The Next COA Steering Committee meeting will be:
Thursday, June 15, 2023, 2:30 pm
The Austin LGBT Coalition on Aging Steering Committee Meetings are open to all. Members of the Coalition and ALL recipients of this email announcement are invited—and urged—to attend.
To continue the work of the Coalition, public participation is needed.
Please RSVP so we will expect you and know to admit you to the zoom room
Email contact@algbtcoa.org for more information or to RSVP
You’re Invited
Here’s the link to the meeting:
LGBT Steering Committee Meeting
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Steering Committee Membership
Membership is open to all regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, or gender identification. The Steering Committee meets monthly, almost always less than two hours. Currently those meetings are held virtually so there is no time spent in traffic. It’s a great opportunity to be more involved in the direction of the Coalition and get better acquainted with folks like yourself who are interested in improving the lives of LGBT seniors in Austin.
Who We Are
The ALGBTCOA is a coalition of community activists, service agencies, LGBTQ organizations, and interested parties who have come together to improve the future for LGBT older adults as we naturally age. The Coalition hopes to encourage service providers and senior services to understand and train their staffs regarding the needs of LGBT clients, residents, and patients. The Coalition was formed to address the question: “What are the LGBT friendly services in Austin?” We would like to make all of them LGBT-friendly. Read about the goals of the Coalition
Special
Announcements
The newly formed Southern Ladies Social League is going to be hosting
Drag Brunch fundraisers
the first Sunday of the month, starting June 4th at
the Austin Eagle, from 1 – 4 PM.
8201 Cross Park Dr B2
The recipient of the June brunch is Rainbow Connections ATX. They’ve asked that we hashtag them in posts (southernladiessocial league).
The Southern Ladies Social League is a new group, formed by three of the members of the Austin Babtist Women (note intentional misspelling of Baptist). Rob Faubion, Ken Johnson and Robert Josef Cross are the trio of the Southern Ladies Social League.
Y’all Means All: An Inclusive Family Night at the LBJ Presidential Library
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility) Committee is excited to be hosting a special family inclusion event on June 1, 2023. We are planning a fun, educational night for adults and families to learn about available local resources and to just relax and have a great night where everyone feels safe and seen. We will have Chulita Vinyl Club providing music, Texas Pets Alive providing puppies for cuddling, along with Coco’s Eats and Sweets providing snow cones to visitors.
The event, Y’all Means All: An Inclusive Family Night at the LBJ Presidential Library, is designed as a community night, open to the public free of charge, shortly after the close of the legislative session. We are inviting LGBTQIA+ friendly community partners to help create an educational, family-friendly night of activities for our community. We are inviting YOU to join us as we help adults and families to understand the resources available in the Austin area.
Event Details
Who: LBJ Library and community partners
What: Y’all Means All: An Inclusive Family Night at the LBJ Presidential Library
When: Thursday, June 1, 2023 from 6-8 pm
Where: LBJ Presidential Library, 2313 Red River Street, Austin
Skating with PRIDE
Visa’s Austin Pride ERG invites the Austin LGBTQ Coalition on Aging to attend Visa Pride Austin Skate Night at Playland Skate on June 28, 7:00pm-10:00pm.
This event provides an opportunity to bring together various local LGBTQ+ non-profits for a night of fun, community building, and networking sponsored by Visa Pride!
Work & Health Experiences Questionnaire
Click on the hearts to go there
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The Watson Chateau – Austin’s Well-Kept Secret
Hiding on University of Texas at Austin campus, next to the School of Nursing, a peculiar building peeks out from behind old trees, tall fencing, thick vines, and overgrown bushes. Unlike all the other buildings on campus, no sign announces the university-owned Arthur P. Watson-Robert “Bob” Garrett House (a.k.a. The Chateau or Watson Chateau). It is a place filled with under-told history about women, African-Americans, and 50 years of importance to the LGBTQ community. If you visited The Chateau, have photos/videos, or simply heard stories, please contact Marta Stefaniuk at watsonchateau@gmail.com to help her continue collecting its vital history.
Read more about the Chateau and why this old building is of importance to Austin LGBTQ history
The national organization SAGE will be undertaking a new strategic direction – with a special emphasis on those elders previously left behind.
Read about SAGE’s outreach to more sectors of our community
In Face of Anti-LGBTQ+ Extremism, 200 Senior Living Communities Commit to LGBTQ+ Inclusion, Participating in Inaugural Long Term Care Equality Index (LEI) by HRC Foundation and SAGE
Click here to access the report and see the LGBTQ+ inclusive senior facilities around the US
Check out the Announcements in the current Newsletter (above) for
QWELL events, Austin PRIDE,
Rainbow Connections ATX, etc
GOLDEN GENERATION
More information on the “Golden Generation” is available on our website under the Senior Resources>Austin Resources>Senior Services tab.
City of Austin
LGBTQ Quality of Life Study
Click here to download the Quality of Life Survey Findings from our website
Click here to download the full Report, titled Priorities for Action, from our website
Click here to download the Travis County Snapshot from the American Communities Survey with interesting demographics (Note: LGBTQ stats were not included in this 2021 survey.)
QWELL is a sister organization to the Coalition on Aging; from the first Townhall Meeting that saw the creation of the ALGBTCOA, we were charged with participating in the development of an LGBTQ Community Center. QWELL, headed up by Clayton Gibson, has been a leader in that effort and in the recent community surveys. Clayton has recently sent an email announcing good news
In 2023, Coalition partner QWELL will:
1. Announce Austin’s first LGBTQIA+ Community Center location, which will include affordable housing, restaurant and retail, and clinical spaces for our nonprofit partners.
2. Help more than 70 local medical clinics complete their LGBTQIA+ Healthcare Equality Index certification, massively increasing access to queer-inclusive healthcare in Greater Austin.
3. Engage QTPOC and allies in QWELL’s huge Colors of Pride Gathering in June.
4. Distribute thousands more rainbow flags through our FreePrideFlag.com program.
5. Launch our digital tool to help LGBTQIA+ people in Greater Austin find friendly businesses, inclusive healthcare, and each other.
QWELL is accomplishing big things for our local LGBTQIA+ community, but we desperately need your financial support NOW to bring all these things to fruition.
Click here to make your donation to support MASSIVE PROGRESS for LGBTQIA+ people in Greater Austin.
You can also get involved a volunteer for our new Queering event series! Click here to sign up to help.
What the Coalition did last year:
Annual Report 2022
This has been an encouraging year for the Coalition with the addition of some new members to the Steering Committee with all kinds of new ideas and energy. Their enthusiasm along with the generous support of the The Helper Bees resulted in our first participation in Austin’s PRIDE parade this year. Part of the original impetus for forming the Coalition several years ago came from a young lady who questioned the lack of input in Austin’s Age-Friendly Plan by saying, “we don’t all wear little bitty bathing suits and ride on floats you know.” We didn’t succeed in getting her on the float this year and there weren’t a lot of “little bitty bathing suits,” but LGBT Seniors were loud and proud for PRIDE!
In addition to having fun we also continued to take care of the business side of an organization, moving from the financial sponsorship of AustinUP to our own bank account and acquiring insurance protection for our governing board. In our meeting this month we established rates for sponsoring organizations and will be welcoming those as we continue to provide advocacy for our community.