ALBANY PRIDE - established in 2011 - is a local group offering peer networking and support for people in Albany (and surrounding regions) who identify as LGBTIQA+, their families and friends, and for all ages, locals and visitors.
We aim to provide a voice for LGBTIQA+ people in the Great Southern and foster local support, acceptance and celebration of minority sexualities and gender identities in our community. ALBANY PRIDE is the only acknowledged local service, support or network for LGBTIQA+ people.
Albany Pride is an ever expanding group and provides:
- General support and information delivery, attempting to build resilience and the capacity for self help, and to promote a sense of safety and belonging;
- Promoting diversity and acceptance of LGBTIQA+ within the Queer community and the wider community;
- Co-ordination and co-facilitation of “Spectrum”, Under 25’s LGBTIQA+ social/support group with headspace Albany (Find out more here)
- Organising Albany Pride week each year since 2016;
- Advocacy (including effective strategies to schools for challenging homophobia and bullying within the school environment and supporting same sex attracted and gender questioning students);
- Making referrals/linking in with other community supports;
- Raising community awareness about issues affecting the LGBTIQA+ community, particularly younger members of this community;
- Liaison with local media around pertinent issues relating to our LGBTIQA+ community;
- Organising training for the local community in collaboration with other organisations around issues facing our LGBTIQA+ community and how this community can be better supported. We recently partnered with Living Proud to deliver Opening Closets Training to almost 40 agency staff locally;
- Participating in State and National research opportunities;
- A few Albany Pride members are also Qlife Australia volunteers, providing mentoring to other LGBTIQA+ people;
- PFLAG formed in Albany in 2018 and they are under our Albany Pride banner.
We hold various groups and social activities, all of which meet monthly. These include:
- End of Month Drinks (Last Friday of the month) at the Premier Hotel, Albany.
- Spectrum (12-25 year old social group run with Albany Headspace) that meet monthly;
- Pride Social Support Group - A group for LGBTQIA+ and friends that have experienced (or are experiencing) mental health issues or disabilities;
- TransVerse - A social group for people who are trans and/or gender-diverse.
See our events page for more details here.