We used to call it the gay community. Then it was the lesbian and gay community. Now it’s the LGBTQQIP2SAA community. But what does it all stand for and why is it so complicated? Tacoma Public Library and the Rainbow Center have partnered up to provide a free community space where you can feel safe to ask the questions you haven’t been able to ask. Join us for an open discussion in which you will learn what words to use, but far more importantly learn what it all means and why it’s important. Learn about gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender expression; how these things interact, how they impact all of us, and how to love and support the LGBTQ+ people in our lives. Bring your curiosity, questions, and an open mind!

Charlie Best is a proud queer, transgender man who has been having difficult discussions about gender, sexuality, and intersectional identity for most of his life. He holds a BA in History and Masters of Arts in Teaching from Lewis & Clark College and, after getting his start in Portland Public Schools, turned his passion for storytelling towards alternative education and youth advocacy. As the Education Manager at the Rainbow Center in Tacoma, Charlie develops and delivers trainings to organizations and businesses around Washington designed to teach about the LGBTQ+ community and provide the tools to make the world a safer, more affirming, and accepting space through an intersectional, actively anti-racist lens. During his free time, Charlie can be found snuggled up with his cat, Goose, watching or playing Dungeons & Dragons, or roughing it in a new slice of the Pacific Northwest’s lush wilderness.