Mayor's LGBTQIA+ Advisory Council Meeting on Feb 6

by Michael Mahler

On February 6, 2020, the Erie City Mayor's LGBTQIA+ Advisory Council held their quarterly meeting. The council is currently working on a mission/vision statement. President Tyler Titus discussed updates from the PA Commission on LGBTQ+ Affairs.

Also discussed were Census 2020 efforts. Census Day is 4/1, and Erie County has created videos to encourage participation, including a video targeting the LGBTQIA+ community with Vice President Michael Mahler. It is very important that everyone fill out the 9 question survey as each missed response typically cost $2,100 per person per year in lost federal funding, and census data also determines representation in Congress and legislative districts for a decade.

There were updates from the various advisory council action teams.

Health care action team is working on the statewide LGBTQ+ Health Conference being held in Erie June 2&3.

Aging action team has developed long term goals and is working the statewide action team. There will also be a listening tour by the PA Dept of Aging in the next few months.We neeed to turn out LGBTQ+ participation for the survey and listening tour.

Youth action team has also come up with a mission statement and is working on safe spaces for Queer youth. They will need involvement of local organization to help with rental costs.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion action team is discussing merging this action team with the larger Mayor's group on diversity.

Marketing action team has developed a mssion statement to help increase overall visibility and awareness of the Erie LGBTQIA+ community. They can also provide help to support LGBTQIA+ programs and initiatives with logo/web design assistance.

Education & Policy action team is working on helping community agencies to be LGBTQ+ culturally competent, also working to be more inclusive of POC and outreach.

The next advisory council meeting will be May 7.