Welcoming Resources

Come here to find and share online resources.

Share Directory or Current Listing

Title	Source	Description	Year	Type	Feature?	Link
Historic Hate Crime Bill Filed in North Carolina General Assembly	Equality NC	Equality NC comments on the filing of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, SB 794. The bill, if passed, would increase the scope of North Carolina’s hate crimes statute, mandate a reporting database at the State Bureau of Investigation, and require training for law enforcement and prosecutors.				Link
North Carolina 2017 State Equality Index Scorecard	Human Rights Campaign	Summarizes status of NC laws with respect to LGBTQ Hate Crimes, Health & Safety, Parenting, Youth, Non-Discrimination, Relationship Recognition and Religious Refusal,				Link
College Guide for LGBTQ Students	Best Colleges	A general guide for LGBTQ students contemplating college. Sections include: Common Difficulties Faced by LGBTQ Students; Finding the Right School; Applying for College; Life on Campus; Organizations and Resources; Legal Rights. Includes interviews with industry professionals from a variety of fields, including mental health counseling and LGBTQ advocacy.		Guide, Backgrounder	Great Overview / Starting Point	Link
College Scholarships For LGBTQ Students	Best Colleges	Scholarships established for LGBT college students are available from several public and private organizations, as well as individual donors. Some welcome all LGBT applicants, while others may focus on specific subgroups. Check out our list of LGBT scholarships below for more details. Includes General Scholarships, Discipline-Specific Scholarships, and Demographic-Based Scholarships.		Database, Calendar	Great Overview / Starting Point	Link
GLAAD Religion, Faith & Values Program	GLAAD	GLAAD's Religion, Faith & Values program works to amplify the voices of LGBT-affirming communities of faith and LGBT people of faith. The program has successfully coordinated press conferences for religious leaders who speak out in support of LGBT issues and has secured national and religious media interest in stories that bring examples of LGBT equality in faith communities to Americans. …		Guide, Backgrounder	Great Overview / Starting Point	Link
Institute for Welcoming Resources	National LGBTQ Task Force	The purpose of this ecumenical group is to provide the resources to facilitate a paradigm shift in multiple denominations whereby churches become welcoming and affirming of all congregants regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. IWR wants to help build church homes that are truly welcoming and nurturing, where everyone knows “they're okay, just like they are.” Denominational representatives of …		Organization, Web Site	Great Overview / Starting Point	Link
HRC State Equality Indiex	Human Rights Campaign	A State-by-State Summary of LGBTQ Laws and Policies. Updated Annually The State Equality Index (SEI) is a comprehensive state-by-state report that provides a review of statewide laws and policies that affect LGBTQ people and their families. The SEI rates all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. in six areas of law and assigns the states to one of four distinct categories. …		Report, Analysis, Fact Sheet	Key Research Tool	Link
Durham Starbucks first in Southeast to be LGBTQ ‘Safe Place’	Herald Sun	Describes implementation of Safe Space program in Durham NC and LGBTQ Police Liaison	2018	News Item, Article	No	Link
Huffington Post: LGBT and Religion	Huffington Post	Huffington Post Newsfeed for LGBT and Religion		Ongoing News Source	No	Link
International LGBTQ+ Travel Association	IGLTA	IGLTA was founded in 1983 and is the world's leading network of LGBTQ+ welcoming tourism businesses. We provide free travel resources and information while continuously working to promote equality and safety within LGBTQ+ tourism worldwide. IGLTA's members include LGBTQ+ friendly accommodations, transport, destinations, service providers, travel agents, tour operators, events and travel media located in over 80 countries. A		Database, Calendar	No	Link
LGBT & Religion Newsfeed	Americans United for Separation of Church and State			Ongoing News Source	No	Link
LGBT Pride Events and Festivals Calendar	GayPrideCalendar.com			Database, Calendar	No	Link
WRN LGBT Newsfeed	World Religion News	LGBT-tagged articles from a comprehensive news service covering a wide variety of faiths: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Scientology, Janism, Wicca, and so on.		Ongoing News Source	No	Link
RNS LGBT & Religion Newsfeed	Religion News Service	The LGBT Newsfeed from Religion News Service. RNS aims to be the largest single source of news about religion, spirituality and ideas. We strive to inform, illuminate and inspire public discourse on matters relating to belief and convictions. RNS is an independent, nonprofit and award-winning source of global news on religion, spirituality, culture and ethics, reported by a staff of …		Ongoing News Source	Top News Source	Link
Title	Source	Description	Year	Type	Feature?	Link

User's Guides - Welcoming Groups

Listing Standards

Contributors

One listing per group.

If you want to list separate workshops, we will be adding a catalog of on-demand workshops soon.

List groups only, please.

This listing is intended to help people find groups that they might want to join – whether for fun, support, or community involvement. Use our other directories for organizations, companies, and service providers.

Be transparent about any restrictions.

Groups do not have to be LGBTQ-focused, but must be LGBTQ-welcoming. We understand that a group may have certain restrictions that are in keeping with its mission (e.g., youth only; male or male-identified). Any such restrictions should be stated explicitly in the restrictions field.

Listings should reflect our local focus

We welcome listings from groups that operate in and around western North Carolina. This includes nearby communities in adjacent states.

We reserve the right to remove listings at any time and for any reason.

We will remove a listing if there is evidence that a speaker and/or their content is incompatible with our focus on community-building, community support, and constructive dialogue.

Users

Use the filter bar to narrow the list.

Use the filters to find groups that focus on what you are looking for.

Use the Feedback Button and Group’s email link to report issues and share suggestions.

Use the feedback button for general site issues and suggestions. If your feedback is a correction to a specific listing, use the group’s email link to communicate directly with them.

Cautions

We do not monitor or endorse groups.

We review new submissions against our listing standards but otherwise accept (or reject) them as presented. We may remove a listing if community feedback suggests that it is materially inaccurate or that the speaker’s content is fundamentally at odds with our focus on community-building.

We do not conduct detailed checks of organizations and their links.

Please be careful when following links outside this site or when reaching out to new entities.

We do not manage communications or registrations with groups.

Users who wish to contact a group should use the links provided by the group. If you wish to suggest minor edits, please contact the group using their links.

Everyone

Give us feedback! And, please be patient.

This is our pilot release. We will assemble user feedback to guide our second release in 2020 Q2.

We encourage and welcome donations.

We welcome everything from modest donations to immodest endowments. If active users and directory listers kick in a little something each year, we think that we can sustain and build this virtual center for the community.

Listing Standards

Relevant to our local LGBTQ and allied communities.

This includes western North Carolina and nearby communities in contiguous states (e.g., eastern Tennessee, northwestern South Carolina, northern Georgia, southwestern Virginia. It also includes groups based outside the region that have a local presence.

No offensive content

This includes language and visuals that are considered hateful, threatening or inappropriately graphic. Bear in mind that this site is accessible to minors.

No content that poses a threat to people’s privacy or to copyright laws.

Do not share names, photos or contact information without appropriate authorization or consent.

No embedded funding appeals and links.

Why? We don’t allow these because we don’t have the resources to monitor such links. You are welcome to link to pages on your site that include these.