2025 End-of-Season Newsletter

Dear LGBTQ+ and Friends Community,

Hello everyone! This is our end-of-season newsletter. It was sent via email to everyone who signed up to be on our email list for LGBTQ+ and Friends at Chautauqua. It details LGBTQ+ and Friends activities and events in 2025.

Once again it was an amazing summer at Chautauqua and we are so happy to have seen so many of you once again! Together we have built quite an amazing community, one that I know many of us deeply treasure.

This was our 9th year of fabulous Meet and Greets every Sunday at 6:30 on the porch of the Atheneum. A great big thank you to Karen James for organizing the hosts, and to all of the hosts for hosting! We had between 90 and 130 people each week, which is a lot. Sometimes I sit back (maybe after a glass of wine) and marvel at the diversity of folks on the porch and revel in the laughter, good conversation, and just sheer fun that is happening. It’s amazing what a little “You’re welcome here at Chautauqua!” party can do.

Always Surprising Lunch Time Discussion Groups with great themes on Tuesdays at 12:15 at the Literary Arts Center Garden Room. Thank you Catie Miller for once again doing a great job. We averaged about 30 people each week. These discussions have been going on since the late 1990’s and have evolved so beautifully as the issues that people are concerned about have changed.

Community Activity Fairs on Sundays from noon to 1:30 in Bestor Plaza. Thank you, Bree Dietly for organizing the volunteers, and a big thank you to all the people who sat at our table, answered questions, and gave away taffy. Visibility makes a difference.

“Mary: Her Journey from Pain to Purpose” is an award-winning documentary film that we showed at the Chautauqua Cinema, Thursday, July 10. It is the story of a trans woman navigating the many, many challenges she faced over several decades and the triumph of resilience, understanding and compassion. Mary, herself, her wife, and the editor of the film did a “talk back” at the cinema after the screening. Making the whole experience extra special was the fact that part of it was filmed at Chautauqua in 2024! Many thanks to Sarah James for organizing this event!

Chautauqua Belle Pride Celebration, Tuesday, July 15. Thank you, Barbara Britton and Catie Miller for organizing this event. It was a blast with great food, a little dancing, and lots of good conversation. As a bonus Sarah James played for us at 3 Taps after the event. Thanks Sarah!

Afterwords Gathering after Theater, Tuesday, July 22. This was the 4th year of doing this event and is the brainchild of Terry Horner. Many members of LGBTQ+ and Friends attended a theater event (Execution of Justice) and then gathered afterwards at Afterwords to meet the cast and crew, and share food and drink. Thank you, Terry for thinking it up, organizing it, and marketing it. It was so fun, and it is definitely in our plans for next year!

Book Bans: Fighting Censorship and Celebrating our Diversity, Friday, August 8. This was a very topical and thoughtful panel discussion and Q&A about the impact of banning books, and more importantly what people can do about it in terms of activism. Maria Lowe, Assistant Deputy Director at Buffalo-Erie Public Libraries, and Jamie Lyn Smith, Ohio Chapter Lead for PEN America were our panelists. A great big thank you goes out to Rhoda Schulzinger and Steve Rozner for organizing this event!

All in all, we sponsored 30 events over 9 weeks in 2025. It was a lot, but also a lot of fun! And we are so grateful that so many more members of our community are stepping up into leadership roles.

Thank you so very, very much to MJ and Barbara Britton for managing changes/additions to our website and Facebook page.

And finally, many thanks to those of you who wrote us checks and sent Venmo donations to cover all of our various expenses this summer. We also had many volunteers, with some participating in several or many(!) of the events. LGBTQ+ and Friends is totally self-funded and we appreciate any donations you can make to the group to help fund our continuing activities as well as our website maintenance costs. Donations to LGBTQ+ and Friends at Chautauqua are not tax-deductible. If you would like to donate, please make out your check to:

LGBTQ and Friends at Chautauqua

And then mail the check to:

Hughes/Britton
300 Carlsbad Village Drive
Suite 108A-359
Carlsbad, CA 92008

Alternatively, you can now donate through Venmo! If you have a Venmo account, you can send money a few different ways. Our username is @lgbtq-chq. Or you can use our e-mail address which is lgbtqchq@gmail.com. Or you can use our Venmo QR code which is on our website donation page.

We hope everyone has a lovely fall and winter. We are so looking forward to seeing you all in 2025! Keep an eye on our website to see what events we will be sponsoring next year.

Thank you! And until next year --

LGBTQ+ and Friends at Chautauqua