How do members of our local LGBTQ+ community connect, gather, and communicate in the Bellingham and Whatcom region? Where do we go for support and resources?

These are the questions many of us were asking as we moved through the end stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of 2022. Many of us moved to the region during the pandemic and some were here for several years prior, yet we all still found it challenging to find community and support.

A small group of friends new to the area decided to host a documentary social film event at the Mount Baker Theatre in November, 2022. A diverse group of 125 LGBTQ+ people sold out the event and we watched Ahead of the Curve, where Franco Stevens, founder of Curve Magazine asked similar questions. After the film ended, we shared ideas of what we wanted our post-pandemic Bellingham LGBTQ+ community to look like and how it could better support our community.

Over the next months, an advisory group formed, created the name, Bellingham Queer Collective, to include all of the diverse sexual and gender identities of our community. We started a private Facebook group with about 20 friends from the event and began inviting others to join this social group. Building up the LGBTQ+ community continues to be our focus.

We now have over 1500 members in our group, host several in-person events during the year, promote hundreds of community events taking place in our region, form affinity groups based on interests and identities, support queer owned/friendly businesses, and advocate for the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities.

We are on a mission to connect, celebrate, unite and advocate for the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and our Board of Directors meet regularly to support and engage with our community so we can continue to grow and connect our communities.