Quadrangle N.L. gets its own dedicated space for LGBTQ community in St. John's

LGBTQorganization Quadrangle N.L. takes its name from the idea of a community gathering place, and now, after more than a decade, the group now has a space to call its own.

Quadrangle had the grand opening of its new space at St. James United Church in St. John's on Saturday.

But Charlie Murphy, the group's co-founder and executive director,saysthespace had been in the works in the province for much longer than the organization has been around.

"We say like, you know, it's been 10-plus years, but if we actually look at the history of Newfoundland and Labrador within the queer and trans community, this is like 30 to 40-plus," said Murphy.

"This is way more than our current board. This is way more than even members that we've had in the past over the last 10 years. This is something that's been a collective dream that many people have have felt will never come true."

In a press release Quadrangle said the space is the first-ever community resource centre dedicated to the entire LGBTQ community in Newfoundland and Labrador, calling it "a major milestone for the province."

Need for community space

Ailsa Craig, co-founder and co-chair of the group's board, said having the space is important for the LGBTQ community.

"To be able to have a space where you can really have the supports that you need so that your talents can grow and so that you can really engage fully in your community, those kinds of spaces exist for a lot of people," Craig said.

"We don't have dedicated spaces and any spaces that we do have are often more around entertainment and that's really valuable. But it's not the only thing, right? Having a public central space where we can gather and share our stories and come together in the ways that we need to, that's part of being in the centre of our own lives."

Murphy said the dedicatedspace is about community careand should help address issues in a social and informal way.

"We know that our mental health within our community is a huge factor. We know housing is an issue. We know food insecurity is an issue," he said.

"Those are things we need to work against and for, but having space where we can come in and play board games, play video games, watch a movie together, have a coffee together and physically take up space are ways of combating those kind of pieces without putting that label on it as peer support, without putting it as a service of a need."

When it came to choosing the space, he said that accessibility was at the forefront. But,he said that's not just about being in the building, it'sgetting to the building.

"So this is one in the centre of the city, it's on a major bus route, it's walkable, it's capable, it's bikeable."

"And the fact that yes, we are in St. James Church. It also allows us to talk about accessibility to faith and religion for the community and also combat or discuss some of those challenges around the lingering harm that has been done by religion and allow us to engage in those conversations in a way that's more proactive."

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