The Town of Chapel Hill LGBTQ+ Resource Group was formed in October 2018, during an effort by the Town Manager's Office to create an LGBTQ+ Liaison to the Town Manager and and LGBTQ+ Police Liaison.   The group later expanded to :

• Help organize LGBTQ+ events, including social gatherings featuring special guest speakers
• Openly sharing experiences, wins and challenges in a supportive and confidential environment
• Helping advise and shape inclusive policies for the Town (including working with the Human Rights Campaign on increasing the Town's Municipal Equality Index score)

If you're a Town of Chapel Hill employee and would like to join the LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group, please send us a note at lgbtqerg@townofchapelhill.org.

Town of Chapel Hill | LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group Charge

Background

In 2018, the Town of Chapel Hill created the roles of the LGBTQ+ Liaison to the Town Manager and the LGBTQ+ Police Liaison to enhance the relationship between the Town of Chapel Hill and the LGBTQ+ community. Following this designation, the Manager’s Office and Human Resource Development created the LGBTQ+ Resource Group to support the liaisons and the issues of interest to LGBTQ+ employees that emerged in the diversity, equity and inclusion assessment led by VISIONS, Inc. in 2018.

Purpose

The LGBTQ+ Resource Group coordinates efforts to create a safe and inclusive workplace, and helps to ensure that the needs of LGBTQ+ employees are met. The group also assesses how the Town is meeting the standards for credit on the Municipal Equality Index (MEI), which examines how inclusive municipal laws, policies, and services are of LGBTQ people who live and work there.

The group serves in an advisory capacity to the Town’s executive leadership.

Responsibilities

The LGBTQ+ Resource Group meets monthly, typically on the fourth Tuesday of the month.

Group Membership

Any Town employee wishing to serve on the LGBTQ+ Resource Group is welcome. The group will include representation from Human Resource Development, the Manager’s Office, and the Chapel Hill Police Department.

The LGBTQ+ Resource Group seeks to provide a supportive and safe space where people can show up as they are and be heard and respected. Members agree not to “out” anyone without consent. 

DURHAM PRIDE 2024

 The Town of Chapel Hill brought their Pride (along with the 2024 Pride-themed bus!) to the Durham Pride Parade on September 29, 2024.  The parade "intend(s) to commemorate our ancestors who sowed past seeds that still bear fruit today and to pay tribute to the LGBTQ+ people who are alive and help us be our best selves now, embodying our greatest values and visions for a more whole and liberated Durham, North Carolina."

SMALL TOWN PRIDE 2024

(The Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag was designed in 2021 by Valentino Vecchietti.  This version incorporates a field of yellow and a purple circle to symbolize intersex inclusion)

 Wear your colors! Wave your flag! Walk with PRIDE! Chapel Hill Community Arts &

Culture is kicking off #SmallTownPride with a Pride Promenade on Saturday, June 1, 2024 at
12pm. We’ll march from Peace & Justice Plaza to 140 West Plaza for a celebration of
LGBTQIA+ community, complete with local art vendors, nonprofits, and food trucks.
Learn more at chapelhillarts.org/smalltownpride or the ERG's SmallTownPride page.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) Pride Month is celebrated nationally and locally each year in the month of June. The origins of Pride stem from the Stonewall Riots that occurred in June of 1969, when attendees of the Stonewall Inn in NYC clashed with anti-LGBTQ police.  Marches and protests popped up in some major US cities in June of the following year to commemorate the event, and the tradition has continued.  The purpose of celebrating Pride is to promote the equality of the LGBTQ+ communities, as well as increase visibility, challenge anti-LGBTQ legislation, and bring awareness to other LGBTQ issues. Progress for true equality requires the support of everyone, including straight allies who know that support for LGBTQ+ people strengthens the entire community.

Through a mix of in-person and virtual events, Small Town Pride promotes equality and celebrate diversity and acceptance in the towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill. It involves the entire community, with local businesses, artists, volunteers and community partners. Everyone is welcome!

 SMALL TOWN PRIDE 2023

Thank you for helping us celebrate another year of Small Town Pride for the third year in a row! 

We had a blast, and hope you did too!  Here's photos from this year's #smalltownpride:

LGBTQ+ Liaisons

The Town named a liaison to the Town Manager’s office responsible for looking at policies and services through an LGBTQ+ lens and speaking up when a policy or service might exclude LGBTQ+ people. This position serves as a liaison between the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community and Town government. The Liaison provides constituents with a point of contact for addressing and elevating the concerns of the LGBTQ+ community and serves as a resource to the public. The Liaison partners with Town departments to fairly and equitably address issues affecting members of the LGBTQ+ community, and to provide services and programs accessible to and inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community.

Media Relations Manager Alex Carrasquillo (acarrasquillo@townofchapelhill.org) is the LGBTQ+ Liaison to the Town Manager.

The LGBTQ+ Police Liaison serves as a liaison between the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community and the Chapel Hill Police Department.

The Liaison provides community members with a point of contact for addressing and elevating the concerns of the LGBTQ+ community related to public safety and policing. The Liaison partners with divisions within the police department to fairly and equitably address issues affecting members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Crisis Unit Supervisor Sarah Belcher (sbelcher@townofchapelhill.org) is the LGBTQ+ Police Liaison.

Inclusion Tips 

How we think and talk about identity, gender and sexuality is always evolving, and it can be hard to keep up. The LGBTQ+ Resource Group wants to help! We’ll be giving advice in here to help you make your coworkers and community feel safe, respected and included. Got a burning question you want us to address? Please let us know!

This month, let’s talk about conversation. Sometimes people are so afraid of being offensive or causing discomfort, they avoid talking to LGBTQ+ folks about our partners and families, or just avoid all LGBTQ+ topics entirely. It’s good to be careful with people’s feelings, but avoiding us like this makes it feel like who we are is something to be ashamed of, or that we can’t be our authentic selves. 

Be open to honest conversation; it’s better to make a mistake and apologize than to avoid us altogether. 

For more information please contact lgbtqerg@townofchapelhill.org.