Starving for LGBT Community

I'm in a small town about 100 miles outside of a big city. It's a very conservative, very Trump2020 place.

I've been told: it's OK to be a lesbian as long as you don't show it outside your house, but it's not OK to be a gay man. They'll beat you up and leave you in a heap. Apparently they don't have a policy about bisexuals but I've taken it as a warning.

There is no gay community here. No Pride Day, no Drag Queen Bingo, no gay bars, no coffee meetups. There are queer people, to be sure, but they don't want to talk about it, they don't want to put themselves at risk, and they don't want to talk with newcomers.

And so I drive to Pittsburgh, just to get an hour with kindred souls. Prime Timers Pittsburgh, which I refer to as Gay Geezers, is very good; welcoming, has a variety of events, isn't really alcohol-aligned.

BiPgh and Pittsburgh BiSexual Community is very good. As is often seen, there's an overlap between Bisexuals and Transgender folks, and that's fine with me.

Burgh Bears is a great resource for me. As a group, they're not monolithic and I think they've got some organizational stress going on, but for me they're fine.

I feel for people who grow up in these small towns without any support community. I'm starving for community myself. I yearn to be with people like me - just to visit with them for a brief while.