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The Bellingham Queer Collective connects, celebrates, unites, and advocates for the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. |
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| | January 2026 BQC Newsletter |
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Dear Friends, 2025 was a year of deep challenge and hardship—just as we anticipated. The pain, stress, and uncertainty were real, and they touched each of us in different ways. Some in our community were impacted directly; others felt the weight from a distance. Our queer community reflects a wide cross-section of the U.S. population, including many who belong to communities that have been most recently targeted—especially our immigrant and transgender siblings. Many of us hold multiple identities: queer and non-white, disabled, neurodivergent, or non-Christian for example—layers of identity that can make us more visible, more vulnerable, and too often more othered by dominant culture. In times like these, it is essential to give ourselves permission to grieve. Make space for the sorrow, anger, and fatigue that may arise. Seek out community. Be together. Share what you’re feeling. Allow moments of calm and relief to exist alongside the heaviness. Prioritizing your mental and emotional well-being is not only okay—it is an act of resistance. Healing happens at your own pace, and choosing peace over chaos is a powerful choice. Even in difficulty, our strength remains. We made it through the past year, and we move forward knowing we do not walk alone. Community is where healing begins—sometimes simply by showing up and being together. Alongside our grief, we can also nurture joy. We can intentionally water the seeds of hope, beauty, generosity, and happiness that still exist in our lives. With care and attention, those seeds grow. Here in Bellingham, we continue to build something extraordinary together which makes me hopeful for 2026 to be a better year, though the challenges will remain. Thanks to over 180 volunteers and generous support from community members and local businesses, the BQC Community Center is becoming a true refuge—a place where we can exist fully, without explanation, and be accepted as we are. Within our BQC community, every queer person is welcome, no matter which letter of the rainbow describes you on any given day. Thanks for being part of our community! Read below to find ways to connect in 2026. It’s a long newsletter so click on “view entire message” so you make sure to see the special events at the end. With gratitude,
Michelle Harmeier
On behalf of the BQC Board of Directors
Important Dates This Month:
January 19 Martin Luther King Day |
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| | In this issue: BQC Center Update New Queer Grief Support Group Jan. 6 New Group Health and Well-being Coaching Class Jan. 11 Friend Raising Events Paused in 2026 World AIDS Day Commemoration Events Thank You Volunteers Get Involved; Join a Board Committee Job Training with London Jan. 6 & Tuesdays 3 pm A New Queer Year Jan. 3 First Friday Art Walk @ BQC Center Jan. 9 Martin Luther King Day Event Jan. 19 Dungeons and Drag Queens @ Wild Buffalo Jan. 21 Generations of Pride: Lavender Hoedown Jan. 28 Pickford Film: Origin (based on the book, Caste) Feb. 1 Mount Baker Theatre: Isabel Wilkerson, Caste Event Feb. 6 Events Calendar
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We moved into our new space at 310 W. Champion on March 1, 2025, and we continue to make it feel more like home every day. With new furniture, expanded storage, and a growing library of hundreds of books, the Center is alive with activity and care. We are open for co-working and social hours more than 25 hours each week and host 23 affinity groups each month, both in the Center and around town. This is possible because of over 70 dedicated volunteers who serve as Greeters and Affinity Group Leaders. In the past year alone, we have doubled the number of volunteers and groups—proof of what our community can create when we lead together. Learn more:
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| Queer Grief Support Group |
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Dates: January 6 - February 24 Times: Tuesdays from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm Location: Accent Counseling, 1400 Broadway, Bellingham 98225 Registration: Email: Groups@accent-counseling.com
The BQC is thrilled to be partnering again with our friends at Accent Counseling to provide another FREE counseling support group designed specifically for our queer community!
Thanks to your donations to the BQC and recent grants we were awarded there is no cost to participants. Support groups are NOT covered by insurance but we know that they provide critical support for healing and processing.
This group will fill quickly. Please register ASAP by sending an email to Mack Whaley at Accent Counseling. A wait-list will be available if there are registrations exceeding the space.
This 8-week therapeutic support group is led by trained professionals and open to all queer and LGBTQIA2S+ adults (18+) seeking a place to explore identity, connect with others, and build emotional resilience. Each session blends guided discussion, creative activities, and peer support, with space to share your unique experiences. Together, you will explore: Foundations & Our Chosen Family Circle The Uniqueness of Queer Grief Music Therapy The Body Keeps the Score: Somatic and Sensory Grief Goodbye Letter Rituals, Remembrance and Legacy Building a Tender Toolkit: Coping and Self-Compassion Integration, Resilience and Looking Forward
Whatever form of grief you may be experience, or want to be more prepared to manage future grief, this space is for building connection, processing experience, and cultivating queer support. All queer identities and lived experiences are welcome. |
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Group Health and Well-Being Coaching |
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Group Health and Well-being Coaching for Creating Lasting Habit Change Dates: 6 weeks: Sundays Jan. 11, 18, & 25; Feb. 8, 22: and Mar. 8 Time: 5:30 - 7:00 pm Cost: Free to BQC Members. Registration is limited Course Description: We currently live inside a health care system that focuses on disease management, not sustaining health and well-being. Many health issues can be eliminated by changing habits. Health and well-being coaching provides LGBTQ+ folks with the partnership and community needed to gently and sustainably create new wellness habits that can improve health.
This 6-week group coaching experience is designed to empower individuals with the tools, strategies, and support to improve health and well-being. Grounded in the Duke University Health and Well-being Coaching model, this program blends evidence-based techniques with the power of group accountability to help participants achieve sustainable lifestyle changes. Habit change happens over time and is key to avoiding and recovering from lifestyle related health challenges. The first 3-sessions of this course are weekly and the last three are bi-weekly to give support for a 3-month change process. To get the full benefit, participation in the full series is recommended.
This course is facilitated by Jill Stansbury, a health and well-being coach qualified by Duke University. Coaching has been part of every job she has had over the last thirty years, and she has expanded her work to health and well-being coaching this past year. She focuses on using curiosity to help individuals unearth their internal wisdom to support sustainable habit change. As support for queer health is vital in these challenging times, she appreciates the opportunity to partner with all to encourage radical acts of self-care!
Register Here
You can contact Jill Stansbury directly for more information at jill@bellinghamqueercollective.org |
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| | | | Friend-Raising Events Paused in 2026 |
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| In 2023-2025, we hosted six beloved large-scale community events, two each year: the Winter/Spring Dance and the Bellingham Erotic Ball. We welcomed hundreds of guests and centered joy, safety, and affirmation. We are deeply grateful to Mount Baker Theatre, The Ferry Terminal Building, and the Hotel Leo for hosting these events. It takes an enormous amount of volunteer time and energy, as well as financial resources to host these large scale events. During our first two years, these events served as our primary fundraisers while this year, with lower attendance and higher costs, they served as community builders and we were not able to raise funds for the BQC.
In 2026, we are intentionally pausing these large gatherings to focus our resources on wellness initiatives within the BQC Center and the wider community. With our efforts toward grants and donations, you will see more opportunities to improve our community’s overall well-being by expanding our affinity groups, counseling support groups, and wellness classes. We will host smaller events to bring our community together for social connection and community building during the year. We will continue to uplift and participate in other queer social events throughout Bellingham as they arise. Thank you to all for attending and celebrating with us during these Friend-Raising events where we built community and raised funds to launch the BQC! With interest and support from our community, we may have the capacity to bring back large scale events like these in the future! |
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| | | | World AIDS Day Commemoration Events |
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| BQC was invited to participate in the annual World AIDS Day dinner event December 1 hosted by Lifelong, Sean Humphrey House and Whatcom County Health and Community Services. Over 150 guests honored the memories of those who were lost to AIDS and we celebrated those living with HIV and the the many medical and pharmaceutical advances made recently to help people manage HIV.
A special feature of the event was the 12’ x 12’ panel of the National AIDS Memorial Quilt on display and shipped to us from the National AIDS Memorial for this event. The beautiful, brightly colored, very personal panel was a somber reminder of the thousands lost to the AIDS epidemic and the lack of a response from our own government. Learn more about the history of the quilt here.
The following Friday, Dec. 5 we were honored to display the quilt panel during our First Friday Art Walk event at the BQC Center. It was a challenge fitting it into our space. Thanks to our Handy Queers, the quilt panel was a dramatic center piece of the evening. Our World AIDS Day theme welcomed back local artist Matthew Crane, who shared the stories and meanings behind his HIV themed art pieces. We also invited the community to share art and artifacts related to the AIDS crisis. |
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| | | | | BQC is, at its core, a community powered by volunteers. Everything we do—every gathering, every program, every welcoming moment at our Center—exists because people in our queer community choose to show up for one another. Founded just three years ago, BQC began as a vision carried by a volunteer board committed to building a community center and programs that support the social health and well-being of queer people in Bellingham. We offer our deepest gratitude to our current and past board members whose leadership, care, and countless hours of service laid the foundation for a thriving organization. Because of you, our community is a place to belong and grow. Learn more about our board members here. We also extend heartfelt thanks to every volunteer who contributes their time, skills, and energy to BQC. Pictured above is our Volunteer Appreciation Dinner at Brandywine Kitchen in December. With over 180 volunteers in our community, the collective impact is powerful. A special shout out goes to Lynx, pictured above, our volunteer coordinator, for their dedication and care. As we transition from Civic Champs to the new POINT volunteer app—designed to be more user-friendly for everyone—Lynx will be reaching out after January 5 to help volunteers make the move smoothly. Our gratitude continues with the 20+ BQC Center Greeters who consistently help open and care for our space, making it warm and welcoming during social hours, affinity groups, and special events. We celebrate our 50+ Affinity Group Leaders, who dedicate hours each month to bring people together around shared interests, identities, and conversations—creating connection where it’s most needed. We also thank our House Volunteers who help with cleaning and special projects, our Outreach Volunteers who increase visibility by tabling at events throughout the community, and our Event Volunteers who step in to set up, support, and break down gatherings. Each role, no matter the size, strengthens the whole. Our programs are rooted in the values of movement, nature, art, service, and belonging. Being of service to one another is a powerful expression of community—and our volunteers embody that spirit every day. Thank you for helping create the community we want to be part of. Your generosity, care, and commitment make BQC not just an organization, but a living, breathing community of connection and hope. |
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| | | Get Involved; Join a Board Committee |
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| The BQC is growing and striving to improve the well-being of our queer community by creating more programs and services. We need help getting there! Would you like to join one of our Board-led working committees? We are seeking people with skills in finance, development, marketing and communications, legal services, volunteer coordination, and wellness programming. Send us an email at info@bellinghamqueercollective.org and we will get together to discuss ways you can get involved at a higher level! Visit our Board web page to learn more about our current board members! |
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| Job Training with London Tuesdays 3 pm |
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Ready to take the next step in your job search? Whether you need help building your resume, preparing for interviews, or exploring new opportunities, meet one‑on‑one with London, an Employment Specialist from Goodwill JTEC, during the scheduled sessions on Tuesdays from 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM at the BQC Center, 310 W. Champion St. |
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| Clown Clurb presents: A New Queer Year |
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Saturday, January 3rd, 8:00 PM - Midnight Bellingham Circus Guild
Are you queer? Are you a clown? Do you need somewhere to DANCE? Then you're probably not gonna wanna miss NEW QUEER YEAR--a UV lit, clown themed queer clubbing night. Grab a ticket while they're cheap, and enjoy an evening of drinks, burlesque, dancing and MORE on Jan. 3rd, 8pm, at the Bellingham Circus Guild.
See you there! Honk honk :0)
Buy Your Tickets Here! $15 - $20 pre-sale $25 at the door |
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| First Friday Art Walk: Ceci Lopez Featured ArtistJan. 9 |
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| Artist Reception with Ceci Lopez Friday, Jan. 9 BQC Community Center 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM We proudly support and attend arts and entertainment events in our downtown arts district including at the Pickford Film Center, Mount Baker Theatre, and New Prospect Theater throughout the year. We are now part of the Downtown Bellingham Partnership’s First Friday Art Walk. Each month, we feature a local artist from our community at the BQC Center—celebrating creativity, connection, and expression. Join us at the BQC Community Center during the Downtown Bellingham First Friday Art Walk opening reception featuring the art work of local artist, Ceci Lopez. Ceci will attend the reception to talk with guests throughout the evening. Her work will be on exhibition through the beginning of February. Interested in being a featured artist? Contact us at info@bellinghamqueercollective.org. More About Ceci Lopez Ceci has always been a creator, but it took her several decades to recognize it. In 2024, at the age of 54, she found art as a way to heal deep grief following the unexpected passing of her mom. This newly found way of engaging with emotions opened her to recognize her deeply held love for art making. She joined an online course in April 2024 and began a journey that would transform her life, worldview, and the way she is remembering the wisdom of the self. Art allowed Ceci to tear down deep walls erected to protect her heart from her feelings. Finding art as a way to move through grief reminded her to live from the heart, a teaching she received as a child from her great-grand father, a bee-keeper in Guatemala.
Ceci’s art is all about feelings and this has helped her in her quest to reconnect with her ancestral wisdom and re-center her sense of self in her identity. With her art, Ceci invites the viewer to enter a world where there is joy, action, emotion, tenderness, and love. She paints the world as it should be, free from the rigidity and the fear of feelings. A place where we recognize the energetic world around us as a living teacher, as a partner in how we create life. For Ceci, art is a gateway to nature and nature leads back to the heart.
She is a prolific painter and in a very short time has produced several pieces that have been part of juried and non-juried shows. Her work has been shown in art magazines. Her work has been displayed at the Whatcom Arts Market. Ceci is a member of Allied Arts of Whatcom County, The Whatcom Arts Guild, and is an artist in residence at Whatcom Arts Center, where you can find her there most weekends in Studio 1. |
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| Martin Luther King Day Event: Mission Possible: moving, Building, Uniting Jan. 19, 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM |
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Copied from WWU website:
Mission Possible: Moving, Building, Uniting
The Community Consortium for Cultural Recognition is proud to host the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Community Celebration on Monday, January 19, 2026 at 10 a.m. as we honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year’s MLK Day of Service is themed Mission Possible: Moving, Building, Uniting. This free, all-ages event provides multiple age-appropriate spaces for our community to reflect on Dr. King’s teachings through volunteerism, advocacy, and uplifting marginalized voices. Together we will engage with pressing local issues, explore practical solutions, and work toward systemic change and community wellbeing. Join Us Monday, January 19, 202610 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Service Projects at noon.
Sehome High School.
Free. All are welcome. *All are encouraged to bring unopened, non-perishable food and hygiene items to the event. All donations will support the food pantries at Western Washington University, Bellingham Technical College, Whatcom Community College, and Northwest Indian College. |
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| Dungeons and Drag Queens Jan. 21 |
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| Witness high-fantasy, high-heeled, high-rolling, high-larity as three Drag Queens play Dungeons and Dragons Live! Since starting in Seattle, the show has inspired many, and now sells out across the country and globe (Canada)! Dungeon Master Comedian Paul Curry and improvisational violinist Carson Grubb will lead three Drag Queens on a brand-new storytelling adventure, with danger, snark and audience participation around every precarious corner. Experience the adventure, or fail your quest- at Dungeons and Drag Queens!
Featured Drag Artists:
Kylie Mooncakes (Seattle)
Miss Ma'amshe (NY)
Viper Fenz (Seattle)
Buy tickets online here at Wild Buffalo:
Doors Open 6:00 PM Show Time 7:00 PM
Stop by our BQC table and say hi! |
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| Generations of Pride Lavender Hoedown Jan. 28 |
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5:00 - 7:00 PM, WWU, Viking U All invited. Ages 18+. FREE
Let’s celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of our Generations of Pride program up at WWU with a Lavender Hoedown featuring a live band! We hope to have our largest crowd ever at this special dinner and dancing event. We invite you to learn some basic square dancing moves with us together. We will have details about parking and shuttles on our website event page soon. |
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| Pickford Film: Origin (based on the book, Caste) |
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Sunday, Feb. 1, 1:00 PM - buy tickets now here - it will sell out!
FILM SCREENING PRESENTED IN COLLABORATION W/ MOUNT BAKER THEATRE, who, in the week following the Pickford's screening of ORIGIN, will be hosting Isabel Wilkerson on Feb. 6, 2026 for a very special event, "The Urgency of Radical Empathy," which will address current events and explore how both individuals and communities can support disenfranchised and marginalized communities and find hope in our shared humanity. |
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| | | Isabel Wilkerson at Mount Baker Theatre |
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Friday, Feb. 6, 7:30 PM With the generous support from local leaders, organizations, and individuals, MBT is proud to bring Isabel Wilkerson to Bellingham for a very special event. The Urgency of Radical Empathy will address current events and explore how both individuals and communities can support disenfranchised and marginalized communities and find hope in our shared humanity. The evening will include a 45-minute lecture, audience Q&A, and book signing.
Learn more, watch a short video, and buy tickets here. Please email us at info@bellinghamqueercollective.org if you need support buying a ticket, we will support as many members as we can.
Pre-Event Gathering for BQC Members Join us at the BQC Center before the event to learn about Isabel’s work and the book, CASTE
Light appetizers and beverages will be available BQC Gathering 5:30 PM- 6:30 PM MBT Event 7:30 PM |
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Thank you for being part of our BQC community and receiving our monthly email! Even though we have over 2,000 members in our private FB group and post events and reminders there, we know many of our members are not FB users. We do not want to solely rely on FB moving forward just in case, so we are adding all of our BQC hosted and supported events to our website under the Upcoming Events Calendar.
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| | | 2025-2026 Sponsors/Partners |
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| | | Thank you for being part of our BQC community and receiving our monthly email! Even though we have over 2,000 members in our private FB group and post events and reminders there, we know many of our members are not FB users. We do not want to solely rely on FB moving forward just in case, so we are adding all of our BQC hosted and supported events to our website under the Upcoming Events Calendar.
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