Current Events

Come to hear about the state of Equality Toledo as we recap the year, cover some exciting upcoming news, and look to the future.

We will also announce the winners of our scholarship and our Equality Awards, honoring local people that are making a big impact.

We are also excited to introduce you to our new Executive Director and Deputy Director.

Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be provided. Plate One will also have other items from their menu available for purchase.

We would be honored if you joined us in the “Unite for Love” Campaign for Giving Tuesday. Equality Toledo works to eliminate discrimination in our region based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression through education, activism, and other anti-defamation efforts. Without your support, we would not be here today.

Over the past 15 years we have worked on a wide array of issues: from banning conversion therapy for both minors and adults; or training nurses on how to give care to LGBT older adults, to increase awareness about the discrimination LGBT elders experience and train the providers who work with them. We have presented over 250 seminars, sponsored over 150 LGBT events including LOVE FEST, collaborated with passionate community members to co-host a very successful annual Toledo Pride event that now draws 20,000 people to downtown Toledo. Through Faith and Fairness, we have built a coalition of religious leaders and organizations in our community committed to the equality of all Ohioans. We have hosted several multi-faith services that were LGBTQ+ inclusive. We have fought bullying with the Safe Schools Projects and recently helped set up a local GLSEN chapter, which will be instrumental in keeping schools safe throughout NW Ohio. Through our [email protected] program, we have been able to help fight discrimination in the workplace by working with companies and elected officials to implement LGBTQ friendly policies and have assisted corporations in the building or support of LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Groups. Our latest project, the Equality Toledo Community Pantry, has served thousands of families since June 2018. We see the need for this and looking forward to growing this programming.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more work ahead of us, and we can’t do it without your support. ET will continue the education and advocacy work we do in schools and universities, hospitals, social service agencies, community organizations, and businesses around the community as well as exploring how to expand into new spaces. ET will partner with like-minded organizations in the Northwest Ohio area to provide resources to the LGBTQ community. We recognize the importance of this work and will work towards increasing our capacity to offer more services to the community. Our expansion will include being committed to working in outlying areas that surround Toledo. We’ve been fortunate enough to partner with the City of Toledo to add protections for our LGBTQ population, and we seek to do the same with municipalities that surround our fair city. Through community support, we have been able to open our own office space. It is a symbol of our viability, strength, and compassion. It is a signal to a long-term commitment to serving the area LGBTQ population.

The easiest way to donate is right here on Facebook, and on giving Tuesday, Facebook will be matching your donation!

You can also donate by following this link.

Donations can also be mailed to us at:
440 Floyd St
Unit C
Toledo Ohio 43620

Thank you for considering a donation to our cause!

This year we invite you to join us at our new center for an evening of remembrance and reflection. We wish that we would have been able to host the event on 11/20/19, but instead we are hosting ours a bit late. Please join us as we remember those who have been taken from our community too soon. Light refreshments will be provided.

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester’s death, and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Join us as we mingle with the Toledo Bar Association’s LGBTQ group. We will have some light refreshments available and would love to see you!

Join us for a celebration in honor of Coming Out Day as members of Equality Toledo partner with a Toledo Museum of Art docent to guide a tour of art that has personally inspired them to share their story.

Be sure to RSVP and share our Facebook event.

We hope you’re all as excited as we are for PRIDE 2019! We’ll have two stages, both inside and out. We’ve partnered with EqualityToledo, Absolut, Miller Lite, Barefoot Wines and TORSO Short North to bring you the biggest after pride street party Toledo has ever seen. We will be 18+ and cover is just $5 for all! We’ll be selling pre-sale wristbands down at Promenade Park during pride. You can also get them at Georgjz before and during the parade Saturday morning. Did we mention that 100% of the proceeds from the sale of beer, wine and liquor on the street go directly to EqualityToledo??? We hope to raise A TON of money for this awesome local organization. You can learn more about them and their mission by checking out their facebook page.

We have a 9PM outdoor underwear fashion show sponsored by Torso with: Sterling, Blasian, AL EX, Gunner, Joey and Johnny.

We have an 11PM Drag show out on the street with:
Your hostess and MC, Deja D. Dellataro
From Columbus, OH – Miss Gay America 2018 Deva Station + Sabrina Caprice Heartt
Local legends – Amber Stone + Sugar Vermonte + London Asia + Miss Georgjz 2019 Ericka Sanchez and Justin Case.

Inside we have:
10PM male revue
12AM male revue

Resident DJ MY (Mike) inside
Resident DJ Savanna outside

Join us as we march in the 2019 Toledo Pride Parade!

What you will need to know:

Toledo Pride Parade Saturday, August 17th

Check-in will be at the corner of 20th & Adams St. Parking Lots (2012 Adams St)
Floats and vehicles please enter at 21st & Adams Street

Registration starts at 9:30 a.m.

Please be no later than 11 am.

Join us for a pre-pride service to honor and bless the start of Pride weekend! All faiths, all ages welcome to this FREE unity event.

FREE Family-Friendly Event!

BYO White shirt and let’s make some colorful rainbow shirts to wear at PRIDE!

RSVP and share from our Facebook Event!

Save the date for Love Fest 2019!

Volunteer to help make the event a success! Buy tickets for the big day here!

More details to come!

Join us for our June Mixer. Come see what Equality Toledo is all about, learn about upcoming events, and meet with other people working and supporting the local LGBTQ+ community.

RSVP, invite friends, and find more details on our Facebook event!

Join us for our May Mixer. Come see what Equality Toledo is all about, learn about upcoming events, and meet with other people working and supporting the local LGBTQ+ community.

Be sure to RSVP and invite your friends from our Facebook event.

Drag Show!
Brunch Buffet!
Drinks!

Tickets to attend are $25.00 per person, which includes a full brunch buffet and live entertainment. All funds raised will progress Equality Toledo’s mission of eliminating discrimination in our region on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, through education, advocacy and other anti-defamation efforts.

Seatings available at 11:00 and 12:30. Please email [email protected] with any questions. Click here to purchase tickets for either seating!

Come help us clean and re-organize our Community Pantry!
Volunteers can further help by bringing cleaning wipes, paper towels, trash bags, gloves, and other similar cleaning supplies.

Parking is available in the Collingwood Presbyterian lot off Floyd.

EqualityToledo is excited to announce its second “Hear Me Out” event at The Toledo Museum of Art. In conjunction with TMA’s Localeyes program, “Hear Me Out” will feature 5-6 people who will tell their story next to a specific piece of artwork. The storytellers chose a work within the Museum that they connect with emotionally or relate to. EqualityToledo is happy to invite the Toledo community to listen to several personal stories from local LGBTQ members in the hopes of improving understanding, awareness, and empathy in the community.

Join us for an evening of live local entertainment: bands, drag performers, theater companies, DJs and more at Toledo’s famous LOVE WALL!

Your $5 donation at entry benefits Equality Toledo’s ongoing education, activism, and other anti-defamation efforts to eliminate discrimination in our region on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

People under 18 admitted with a parent or legal guardian. Please note that some bands/performers may use harsh language during their performance. Can’t wait to see you!

We will be setting up our Community Pantry, putting together shelving and organizing the space, and collecting donations. Volunteers needed! Please see below for how you can help before the event takes place!

We need in-kind donations to help set up our space. Besides our wishlist, we need a working refrigerator, trans care items, and travel size toiletries (no razors).
Here’s how you can help:

1. Purchase an item on our Amazon Wish List
2. Message us with donation item offers so we can schedule to meet in person and remove item from the wishlist.
3. Make a monetary donation.

While the data questionnaires are being worked on and improved, focus needs to turn to completing a fundraiser between now and Pride in August. Suggestion so far was a Silent Auction. Please come to this meeting with items, contacts, ideas, or anything else that can help us put together our first self-run center fundraiser!

We’re changing things up this year and moving to The Other Side! We’ll have a buffet waiting for you, and a drag show that’s sure to entertain.

Money raised will support the education and advocacy efforts of Equality Toledo.

Join us for our monthly mixer on 419 day! Come see what Equality Toledo is all about, learn about upcoming events, and meet with other people working and supporting the local LGBTQ+ community.

RSVP and invite your friends on the Facebook event!

Join us for our third film in our LGBTQ Film Series.
Based on a true story, Pride depicts a group of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners’ strike in 1984, at the outset of what would become the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign. The alliance was unlike any seen before and was ultimately successful.

We especially encourage our friends in labor to attend so that we can further strengthen our connections and create more unity within our movements.

Popcorn and light refreshments will be provided. Blankets and pillows are encouraged for added comfort.

Join us for our second of three films in our series.
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
Despite his achievements in the Civil Rights Movement, Bayard Rustin was silenced and imprisoned due to being an openly gay man in a homophobic era.

Happy to partner with Community Solidarity Response Network.#BlackLivesMatter

Popcorn and light refreshments provided. Feel free to bring a blanket and pillows for extra comfort.

Join us as we celebrate our 12th anniversary serving the Glass City in the Gerber House of the Collingwood Arts Center. This year, we will tour the CAC hearing ghost stories, and you’ll have some time to explore on your own. Light refreshment will be provided, cash bar.

Tickets are $35 and available at the door, online, or at any of our upcoming events, with proceeds benefiting Equality Toledo’s ongoing work to eliminate discrimination in our region based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression through education, activism, and other anti-defamation efforts.

Gerber House at the Collingwood Arts Center

Join us for our Annual Meeting to hear more about our past year and the future plans for the organization.

EqualityToledo is excited to announce its first “Hear Me Out” event at the The Toledo Museum of Art. In conjunction with TMA’s Localeyes program, “Hear Me Out” will feature 5-6 people who will tell their story next to a specific piece of artwork. The storytellers chose a work within the Museum that they connect with emotionally or relate to. EqualityToledo is happy to invite the Toledo community to listen to several personal stories from local LGBTQ members in the hopes of improving understanding, awareness, and empathy in the community.

Join us for our September Social Mixer at Mojo’s! They have completely remodeled the inside, so come and check it out, and make some new connections!

Food and snacks provided by Mojo’s. Drinks available at the bar.

The Toledo Pride Festival is a large-scale, outdoor event showcasing the best in local and national entertainment. The festival also boasts a parade, food and merchandise vendors, and networking with numerous community organizations including social groups, churches, and health and wellness groups. For more information about Toledo Pride go to: www.toledopride.com

Join us in the Parade or Visit our Booth at Toledo Pride! To participate with EqualityToledo email us at: [email protected]