Coming OUT for a drink
OUT in Fishtown organizes meetups for the local LGBT community
Although Center City’s Gayborhood is a best-known hangout spot of the LGBT community, a Fishtown resident wanted to find a way to additionally bring these people “out” to her area of the city. Thus, she organized the meetup group, OUT in Fishtown, which just held its third event at the Fishtown Brewpub on Thursday, Aug. 31 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
With a showing of about 50 people, founder of the organization Colleen O’Hara deemed this event another success. As the first event was held back in April at Front Street Cafe, and the second in June at Martha, she has consistently used these meetups as a dual opportunity to connect members of the LGBT community while also supporting local businesses.
Furthermore, by charging $5 for online tickets, and $10 for tickets at the door, O’Hara was able to use the event to raise money for the Attic Youth Center, an organization that aims to reduce the isolation felt by LGBTQ youth. Serving exclusively lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, the Attic Youth Center achieves this goal by “providing a sense of community and developing programs and services to counteract the prejudice and oppression that LGBTQ youth often face.”
The OUT in Fishtown event raised more than $250 for the organization.
“Let’s all get together, show each other love and kindness and have a blast in the place where we love to spend our days — Fishtown,” O’Hara wrote on the event’s Facebook page.
In doing just that, residents of Fishtown, the surrounding neighborhoods, and even people from outside of the city, came to Fishtown Brewpub to show their support for this young organization. For example, Josh Borin came up from Wilmington, Del., that evening just to attend the event.
“I help run the same kind of group in Wilmington called ‘Our Night Out Wilmington,’” Borin said. “There’s also an Our Night Out Philadelphia and an Our Night Out Phoenixville. For me, they are social things, and I think it’s fun meeting new people.”
Similarly, O’Hara’s wife, Jacqueline, thinks the events are fun because they simply get members of the LGBT community out together in the many different and wonderful bars and restaurants of Fishtown. Together, she and O’Hara hope to watch the group continue to grow larger with each meetup.
For more information on OUT in Fishtown, visit its Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/OUTinFishtown.
