Adirondack North Country Gender Alliance

LGBT History Month
2024-10-01 08:00 - 2024-10-31 17:00 (America/New_York) | NY
Happy LGBT History Month!
LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. As of 2022, LGBT History Month is a month-long celebration that is specific to Australia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.

National Coming Out Day
2024-10-11 08:00 - 17:00 | NY
National Coming Out Day is an annual celebration which takes place on 11 October every year. It was first celebrated on the one-year anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights – a date chosen to honour the bravery of LGBTQ+ individuals who decide to come out and live openly. Although it started off as an American awareness day, the meaning of National Coming Out Day is still highly relevant to LGBTQ+ communities across the world today.
Coming out is a unique experience for each LGBTQ+ person. It’s not a one-time event; many LGBTQ+ individuals who come out to their closest friends and family may later come out at work or school, to their extended family, or to casual acquaintances.
For some, coming out is no longer a big deal – it can be a simple matter of correcting someone’s assumptions about you, or introducing your partner. For others, coming out is still a huge challenge. The very real fear of facing discrimination, bullying, or judgement can cause LGBTQ+ people to stay ‘in the closet’, struggling with anxiety while they strive to be themselves.
Talking about coming out and sharing our stories can help to strengthen our community and support one another with this experience. While coming out can be daunting and scary, it can also be the first time that LGBTQ+ individuals are able to be truly open with the people closest to them.
Over the last few decades since National Coming Out Day was first recognised, we’ve seen huge progress for the LGBTQ+ community, with legislation on same-sex marriage, discrimination laws, and educational reforms all helping to protect and support LGBTQ+ people.
However, these legal developments don’t mean that the fight for LGBTQ+ rights is over. In the UK, we continue to see LGBTQ+ people suffer from attacks, hate, and abuse. Across the world, LGBTQ+ people are still campaigning for laws and attitudes alike to change. For many, coming out can be dangerous – or simply not an option.
National Coming Out Day isn’t a day to force LGBTQ+ people to come out, or to shame people who haven’t done so. It’s a day to celebrate the beauty of being true to yourself, for having the courage to share an important part of your life with others, and for celebrating those who may come out to you. Rather than being perceived as exposing yourself or confessing something, we should see coming out as a marker of coming into your identity, and allowing others to share in that knowledge. National Coming Out Day should also be a day to acknowledge the difficulties of coming out, and to remember that it’s still not something all LGBTQ+ people can safely do.
Today, some would argue that coming out (and having a day to celebrate it) is unnecessary. It’s true that no one should have to come out, and that not coming out doesn’t mean that you’re “hiding” or “lying”. In an ideal world, being straight and/or cis wouldn’t be perceived as default, and no one would make any assumptions about anyone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
But for so many in our communities, that day is still a long way off. Coming out has always been an important part of LGBTQ+ history.

International Pronouns Day
2024-10-16 08:00 - 17:00 | NY
International Pronouns Day happens each year on the third Wednesday of October. Referring to people by the pronouns they determine for themselves is basic to human dignity. International Pronouns Day seeks to make respecting, sharing, and educating about personal pronouns commonplace.

Spirit Day
2024-10-17 08:00 - 17:00 | NY
Spirit Day is an annual LGBTQ awareness day observed on the third Thursday in October. Started in 2010 by Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan, it was initially created in response to a rash of widely publicized bullying-related suicides of gay school students in 2010, including that of Tyler Clementi.
Promoted by GLAAD, observers wear the color purple as a visible sign of support for LGBTQ youth and against bullying during National Bullying Prevention Month, as well as to honor LGBTQ victims of suicide.

Asexual (Ace) Awareness Week - 2024
2024-10-21 08:00 - 2024-10-27 17:00 | NY
Asexual Awareness Week, now known as Ace Week, is celebrated the last full week of October. Part celebration of the progress we’ve made as a community, and part campaign for greater understanding and acceptance of asexual-spectrum identities, Ace Week is a time to focus on all things ace*.
The ace community has made significant headway over the years. Asexual representation in mainstream media continues to improve, major LGBTQ+ organizations now acknowledge and include us, and ace community groups have sprouted up and flourished in cities around the world. Ace Week gives us an opportunity to recognize these achievements and the efforts that made them possible.
Though we have much to celebrate, the fight for visibility and acceptance is still ongoing. Ace identities are often overlooked or misunderstood, and many aces still grow up not realizing that asexuality is an option. Since the issues aces face are directly influenced by their other marginalized identities, many in our community—especially aces of color, disabled aces, and aces with other LGBTQ+ identities—can face significant barriers to equality and acceptance.
In light of this, aces all over the world participate in Ace Week by creating educational resources, sharing information on social media, and organizing community events. These global initiatives serve to raise awareness, spread information, and spark discussion about ace identities. More and more people discover ace communities each year, and with them, find acceptance, comfort, and joy.

Intersex Awareness Day
2024-10-26 08:00 - 17:00 | NY
On October 26, 1996, intersex activists from around the world gathered in Boston, Massachusetts, outside the annual American Academy of Pediatrics conference for the first public demonstration by intersex people in North America. Since then, this day has been observed annually on October 26to raise awareness of the issues intersex individuals face, promote understanding and acceptance, and advocate for their rights and access to respectful and supportive healthcare practices.
Intersex people are born with natural variations in their biological sex characteristics — simply put, their bodies fit outside the strict male/female binary. It’s important to recognize that intersex is a natural part of human diversity — not a medical condition to be changed or fixed. Medical practitioners’ failure to comprehend and recognize this has led to traumatizing situations for intersex individuals, especially minors who undergo surgeries without proper explanation of their characteristics. Over the years, the internet and social media helped break the silence surrounding intersex issues, allowing intersex individuals to connect, share their stories, and ultimately find solidarity.

LGBTQAI+ Mixer - Saranac Lake - Bitters and Bones
2024-10-29 17:30 - 19:30 | Bitters and Bones, 65 Broadway Street, Saranac Lake, 12983, United States
Join us for our monthly LGBTQ Mixer at Bitters and Bones in Saranac Lake!
Come and join us on the last Tuesday of each month from 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Good people. Good food. Good drinks. Non-ETOH drink options provided. Kitchen open until 9pm.
An Adirondack brewery and restaurant, Bitters & Bones offers craft beer made onsite, signature cocktails, and fresh local cuisine – all made with love.
Dine indoors in our rustic-industrial tavern or on our rooftop deck during summer months.
Bitters and Bones
65 Broadway Street
Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Ph: (518) 354-8270
