THE MOON MEMO: 2.14.25

Love is in the air!

The love I have for our Cincinnati LGBTQ+ community is profound. For so much of life, I have felt out of place and I never knew why. I thought that if I could be the perfect student, the perfect daughter, the perfect Christian, the perfect friend, the perfect (straight) wife, etc. then all would be well and no one would know that I was secretly miserable. Coming out and finding a found family within this queer community has quite literally saved my life.

I was reminded of how much I LOVE this community this past Sunday at the Cincinnati Pride’s LGBTQ+ Organizations Town Hall. There were 60+ local organizations represented in a standing room only room. It made me emotional seeing everyone come out and stand together; I only hope this momentum continues. Cincy Pride is releasing a more exhaustive list of all who were in attendance, but I wanted to share some of the resources that I wrote down. In my opinion, our weakness in this community is having any sort of organized way to let others know what’s happening around town. There are so many great resources and organizations in every corner of this city.

LOCAL SUPPORT GROUPS:

• Through the Phases Counseling: first Thursday of every month, LGBTQ+ adults 18+, FREE, Blue Ash

• Heartland Trans Wellness: multiple groups

• Transform + NAMI: 2nd and 4th Mondays from 6-7:30p for LGBTQ+ adults with a mental health condition

• GLSEN Youth Group: Mondays 6-8p

• Trans Empowerment Network: Trans/Nonbinary support group and Trans femme support group

• Cincinnati Pride: Coming soon, L+Q- group for LGBTQ+ adults 50+

OTHER RESOURCES:

• Caracole: HIV prevention and care. Includes a group for those actively using drugs, a group for those living with HIV, harm reduction safer use supplies, PrEP assistance, etc.

• Thrive Empowerment Center: trauma-informed self-defense classes

• Cincy Leather: classes for safe kink/fetish play

• Independent Alliance: disability resources

• Trans Advocacy Council: emergency assistance

• Cincy Black Pride: various events throughout the year

• Cincinnati Pride: lots of upcoming events!

TO STAY UPDATED ON STATE LEGISLATURE:

• Indiana

• Ohio

• Kentucky

SAVE THE DATE:

Northern Kentucky Pride: June 1

Middletown Pride: June 20

Cincinnati Pride: June 28 (Also the anniversary of Stonewall)

Lebanon Pride: July 12

Milford Pride: TBA

Glendale Pride: TBA

Have you heard about another local pride taking place? Send me the info and I’ll add it to our list!

Cincinnati Pride is running into some red tape in our current political climate, and there’s strict requirements being placed on them to have a certain amount of volunteers or the parade won’t be able to take place. If you feel comfortable/able to, please help volunteer so we ensure we can celebrate! Remember: the first pride was a protest.

Know Your Rights with ICE Resources:

Immigrant Defense Project

Toolkit from the National Immigrant Justice Center

There are still openings for clinicians wanting to join my first group supervision, primarily focused on working with LGBTQIA+ clients. Whether you are also a member or an ally, contact me for more info!

Upcoming Events:

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