Find Your Community with these Local LGBTQ+-Centered Groups and Gatherings

In need of more queer friends and activities? The following groups have them in spades.

June 12, 2024

Kaitlyn Murray, Lauren Clem, Abbie Chipps,

Queers & Beers Group At Moniker Brewery In Providence

LEFT TO RIGHT: Natalie Weisfeld, co-host of Queeriosity; Amanda Briere and Shannon Curley of Queers and Beers; Thorn Golden, founder of
Queers Who Climb; Killa Muñoz and DJ Rogers, co-hosts of Queeraoke PVD; and Ashley Kahlmeyer, founder of Out With Ash. Not pictured: Makala Chubbuck of Queeriosity. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

QUEER HIKES

In April 2021, Mel Thibeault made the first post on her shiny new Instagram page. “Welcome to R.I. Queer Hikes!” she wrote. “I’m tentatively thinking the morning of Saturday, May 8, could be our first outing. Sound off in the comments or DM with your thoughts, suggestions, questions or concerns. Excited to get this going and get exploring!”

Courtesy of Queer Hikes

Three years, 178 posts and 3,612 followers later, Queer Hikes has three dedicated volunteers helping to run the show.

Members host hikes across New England, collaborating with groups like Outhounds Adventure, the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Audubon societies, the Buzzards Bay Coalition and local land trusts, says Queer Hikes volunteer Elliot Henderson.

Thibeault has since stepped away, but volunteers like Henderson have trekked on, planning and leading hikes every month. All the hikes are organized on Instagram, with details and registration links. Each hike is rated by the group’s trusty mascot, Bandit the raccoon. They range from one Bandit — an “accessible” adventure — to four Bandits: “Are we there yet?”

Upcoming summer hikes include a vernal pool walk, a birdwatching stroll and a monarch butterfly trek, as well as special events to celebrate Pride month and engage members of the queer community with the great outdoors. instagram.com/queer.hikes —Abbie Chipps

QUEERS, BEERS and BEYOND

Queers, Beers and Beyond

Stop by Moniker Brewery in Providence any Monday night, and you’re likely to find at least sixty happy patrons overflowing the back patio of the West Fountain Street hangout.

It’s not just that the beer is good, though it’s certainly a draw at this West Side staple. Moniker Brewery is also the home base for Queers and Beers of Rhode Island, an LGBTQ+ meetup group that gathers over lagers and IPAs.

“It’s basically like the experience of going to Pride, except we do it every week,” says Shannon Curley, the group’s co-founder.

Photography by Wolf Matthewson

Curley and friend Shay Weintraub (who has since stepped down as co-runner but remains supportive) founded the group in January 2022, hosting their first meetup at Narragansett Brewery. After a long pandemic of failing to meet new people, the pair were interested in creating a new setting where LGBTQ+ people could feel comfortable gathering in person. They’d previously attended a hike organized by the local Queer Hikes group followed by an outing to a local brewery and liked the idea of a brewery as a casual, accessible space.

In addition to weekly meetups — deemed “Monny Mondays” — the group also hosts monthly gatherings at a rotating slate of local breweries and distilleries. Participants come from both across the state and across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and the group welcomes drinkers and non-drinkers alike. Initially surprised by its popularity, they’ve come to expect a crowd when choosing meetup locations: Weekly gatherings draw dozens, and a two-year anniversary celebration earlier this year at Kimi’s had more than 100 participants.

Photography by Wolf Matthewson

“It’s not about drinking, it’s about gathering in safe spaces that happen to have beer,” Curley says.

Queers and Beers is also accompanied by several offshoots. Thorn Golden’s Queers Who Climb group inspires the active to try their hands at bouldering and top roping at Central Rock Gym in Warwick on Tuesday evenings and Sunday mornings. For the music-lovers, Queeraoke PVD, created by DJ Rogers and co-ran by Killa Muñoz, encourages the community to stop by and sing their hearts out twice a month on Thursday nights at Moniker. Meanwhile, Queeriosity hosts Natalie Weisfeld and Makala Chubbuck put participants’ general (but often LGBTQ+ related) trivia knowledge to the test at Kimi’s on alternating Wednesday evenings. And then there’s Out with Ash; founder Ashley Kahlmeyer — who also moonlights as a fan-favorite bartender at Moniker — organizes everything from group trips to Pride Night at Fenway to elementary school-reminiscent field days complete with kickball, water balloon fights and more throughout the year.

“For many of us, these groups came at a time that we really needed them; just having left a difficult relationship, being new to town and needing a sense of community, or just not feeling like there was a place we fit in and could be safe in our queer identities,” says Rogers. “When I came across it, the Queers and Beers community quickly became a second family to me. For the past couple years, myself and the other organizers have been overjoyed to be able to help facilitate a variety of new spaces where queer identifying people and allies can feel included, cherished, and encouraged to grow into their most authentic selves. ”

Queers and Beers regulars and newbies meet and chat over a pint at Moniker Brewery’s back patio on Monday evenings. Photography by Wolf Matthewson

Connect on Instagram.com at @queersandbeersofri; @queers.who.climb; @queeraokepvd; @queeriositypvd; @out_with_ash —Lauren Clem and Kaitlyn Murray

PLANETA

Planeta is an uplifting, BIPOC-forward, queer dance party centered around good music, joy and community building. Each month, partygoers are encouraged to don their proudest and loudest garb, with past themes
including “Space Tropical,” “Fruity Blooming Wig Party” and “Eighties Prom.” The location varies, but a portion of ticket proceeds goes toward helping folks in the community. instagram.com/planetapvd