About The Queer Neighborhood Council
Visibility, Access, Advocacy for Boston’s LGBTQIA+ & Ally Community
Our Four Pillars
for the queer community,
by the queer community
Driven by feedback from hundreds of community members, we’ve solidified our focus to four areas
Housing & Policy Advocacy Group
Take action on urgent advocacy areas, including housing, transit/transportation, healthcare & queer youth community centers
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Community Arts
Providing opportunities to support and engage with local Boston-area queer artists and art venues
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Policy Roundtables
Opportunities to engage directly with elected officials and policy experts
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Socials
To build community and bring everyone together, we host frequent gatherings in queer-forward spaces
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The Catalyst
When you’re queer,
every issue
is a queer issue.
"It's Boston, isn't everyone gay-friendly?" Sadly, no. Subtle and overt discrimination against LGBTQIA+ folks exists everywhere, even Boston, especially against trans people and queer people of color.
We (the TQNC Co-Founders, Jack Imbergamo & Matthew Broude) met in person in early May 2023 — and as two highly civically engaged folks, we got to talking about what it’s like to be a queer person in community and official public meetings.
During our very first conversation, we realized that as wonderful as Boston is, and as many queer and supportive allies as there are here, we’ve both had plenty of experiences in Boston civic spaces where our queerness led to uncomfortable or outright concerning reactions from other community members.
When community and public meetings are spaces where as LGBTQIA+ people we have to waste mental energy on whether we can safely exist as our whole selves in front of neighbors & strangers, showing up can be uncomfortable, and it’s hard to fully engage.
Jack says it was Matthew’s idea, Matthew says it was Jack’s idea, but somehow, between us…
We knew in that moment in May that we needed to create a space where LGBTQIA+ community members and our allies can learn about Boston civic and community matters, be visible to and connect with our elected and City officials, and collectively advocate for the services, support, and changes we need.
Experimenting with Expanding Our Offerings
As we heard from the community what people wanted to see from TQNC, we started ramping up to 3-4 events per month in September 2023, trying out different ideas based on feedback.
Just some of our September through December 2023 events…
Workshop:
Gender & Sexual Identity
Through a series of activities, small group discussions, and a whole-group conversation, we reflected on our foundational experiences with gender and sexual identity, how our identities have evolved over time, and the role of language in forming community connections around gender and sexual identity.
Queer Contingent:
Abundant Housing MA At-Large City Council Candidate Forum
A dozen or so of us met up before the event, and attended together as a queer contingent at the forum hosted by Abundant Housing MA. After, most of us ventured out together for a debrief and socializing over food and/or drinks at a nearby queer bar.
(We’ve committed to hosting alcohol-free and all-age events for our meetings and workshops because so many queer activities orbit around bars & clubs, but there was consensus in the group to go out after to a venue that offered alcohol for those who chose to partake.)
Queer Artists Market:
Allston at Fields West
We hosted 19 incredibly talented vendors and met over 150 new faces. Our community was out in full force, proving that not even a total deluge could rain on our parade. We heard from many of you that the “vibes” from vendors, community and our hosts Fields West were immaculate ✨
Fields West were excellent hosts, allowing us to take over not just their event space but their entire restaurant as well. It wasn't just an event, it was a party — a lively celebration of Queer community and creativity with a side of snacks.
Policy Roundtable:
Housing with Senator Lydia Edwards
Starting with a moderated list of questions based on feedback from TQNC members ahead of the meeting, we led a wonky and nuanced hour-long discussion of specific legislation and policy strategies, discussed the opportunities for 2024, and got the Senator’s feedback on how we could be effective as community advocates for housing justice. Then the Senator graced us with an additional hour of Q&A with attendees — and she even brought along pizza.
Plus Socials to Build Community
Started Local in June 2023,
Promptly Became Citywide
While the seed of The Queer Neighborhood Council was born in our very first conversation, it took dozens of hours of additional reflection for us to construct a true vision — which we announced 6 weeks later in June 2023 at Pride on the Prado in the North End, with Boston City Councilor Gigi Coletta, State Senator Lydia Edwards, and State Ways & Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz standing alongside us.
Since Jack lives in the North End, and Matthew lives Downtown, our initial idea was to focus on those neighborhoods…
…and then we held our first Community Connection meeting Downtown in July 2023, and people showed up not only from Downtown and the North End, but also the West End, Chinatown, East Boston, Dorchester, Allston, Brighton, Cambridge, Somerville, and Abington.
Seeing the turnout from all over and around Boston, we knew The Queer Neighborhood Council needed to be citywide.
After our first Community Connection meeting in July 2023, we teamed up with other community partners to host additional Community Connection meetings in 2023 in Allston-Brighton, Jamaica Plain, East Boston, Roslindale, and Dorchester.
Through a mix of open social time, breakout groups, and collaborative discussion, our first three meetings fostered connections and gathered ideas about how to create comfortable civic and community spaces for us as LGBTQ+ people and allies — as well as the topics and priorities people want in that space.
And once again, we found not only did local neighborhood residents come to each meeting, but we were also joined by folks from all over Boston and nearby towns, including Mission Hill, the Fenway, Chinatown, the West End, the North End, Somerville, Milton, Quincy, and Abington — plus people from neighborhoods where we’ve hosted meetings attending in other neighborhoods too — reaffirming our confidence in a citywide approach.
