RISE & THRIVE: Creating and Sustaining LGBTQ+ Safe Spaces in Houston

💬 What is Rise and Thrive? 🫱🏽‍🫲🏻

Rise and Thrive is more than an event—it’s a community forum where LGBTQ+ Houstonians and allies come together to explore what it truly means to create and sustain safe spaces. Whether you're a longtime advocate or just beginning your journey, this evening is designed to uplift, inform, and connect.

💜 Who Should Attend?

• LGBTQ+ individuals of all ages
• Allies, advocates, and community leaders
• Anyone curious about how to foster safer, more affirming environments

This is not a lecture—it's an interactive Community Forum designed to bridge the gap between understanding the need for safe spaces and implementing real solutions across Houston. We're gathering community members, allies, leaders, and institutions to directly address the critical issue of safety for LGBTQ+ individuals.

Our goal is simple: to stop talking about safe spaces and start collaborating to build and maintain them.

The Forum Will Tackle Key Community Challenges, Including:

• Identifying Gaps: We will ask panelists and the audience to identify the specific "safety deserts"—the marginalized groups (like seniors, youth, or trans people of color) and geographic areas currently lacking affirming resources.
• Actionable Accountability: We will move beyond good intentions to define the tangible actions individuals, businesses, and nonprofits must take to truly protect the community and hold systems accountable.
• Unmet Needs: We will explore the non-obvious, everyday spaces (transportation, digital resources, city services) where safety is lacking and pinpoint the low-cost, high-impact changes needed immediately.

Your questions, your insights, and your experiences are the driving force of this forum.

Come as you are. Leave more connected.

Let’s rise—and thrive—together.