Local LGBT Groups Team Up to Form Pride Coalition

In what may put to rest the debate over whether Austin has an actual gay and lesbian community, eight prominent LGBT organizations today announced the formation of the Pride Coalition. The unifying entity is, in many ways, largely an effort to eliminate some of the petty squabbling over resources and public attention that many of these groups often found themselves caught up in. It also hopes to better promote the various community volunteer efforts that take place throughout the year.

“We will no longer be limited or defeated by our own political infighting or allow ourselves to be self-sabotaged by not creating a culture of open and honest communication,” proclaimed Jimmy Flannigan, president of the Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (AGLCC), which coordinated the coalition. “By working together, not only will events and volunteers be better utilized, but the LGBT community will be able to directly address the needs of each organization. Ultimately, we can reduce the entire cost of doing business for the LGBT nonprofit groups through joint negotiations and economies of scale.”

In a press release, Flannigan said that the coalition’s eight founding members were hand-picked by the AGLCC board to represent a variety of LGBT constituencies in as few organizations as possible. Other affiliated organizations may be invited in the future, once the group gets some momentum going.

The Pride Coalition today consists of:

• Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (AGLCC), which promotes networking, education and support for gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses, and gay and gay-friendly business professionals
• allgo, which envisions a just and equitable society that celebrates and nurtures vibrant people of color queer cultures.
• Atticus Circle, which educates and mobilizes fair-minded straight people to advance equal rights for LGBT partners, parents and their children.
• PFLAG-Austin, which promotes the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, their families and their friends.
• Equality Texas, which works toward the elimination of public policy discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity/expression in Texas.
• HRC (Human Rights Campaign) Austin, which seeks to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality at the national level.
• Out Youth Austin, which supports and provides services to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning youth ages 12 to 19 in Central Texas.
• Transgender Advocates of Central Texas (TACT), which is dedicated to furthering the cause of gender-diverse people in Central Texas.

Upcoming activities under the coalition banner include this weekend's AGLCC/HRC afterparty following the Austin HRC Equality Gala, and the annual Pride Parade and Festival in June. The group also plans to launch a web site that will promote community-wide volunteer opportunities among the coalition’s eight member organizations; as of yet the site is still in the works.