We have some exciting announcements!
As you know, we recently opened up applications for those who were interested in joining us for a 2-year volunteer term as a Board Member at Gothic Pride Seattle. We also elected a new Baby Bat Ambassador, and voted in the new President and Vice President of Gothic Pride Seattle!
Please join us in welcoming the newest additions to GPS!
We have two new Board members, Tara LaPeligrosa Lee and Kenneth Daniel Pedersen, and one renewing member, Lily Munn.
If you’ve been to the Mercury, it is very likely that Tara was the one who let you in or checked your coat. Tara has been an important part of the Seattle Gothic scene for many many years. She is a former GPS Board member (and President!), and after a small hiatus, she has returned and we are so happy to have her back!
Kenneth is new to GPS, but not to the community! Very recently, you might have seen him around our Pride Parade float, taking photos and video alongside our GPS Pride photographer. He is also responsible for the “Kelfie” (Selfie with Kenneth!), which has become very popular. We are excited to have him working with us!
Lily has been serving as a Gothic Pride Seattle Board member since 2013. Her 2-year term ended last month, which gave her the option to step down or reapply to continue being a Board member. She reapplied, and was voted in by the remaining Board members to serve another 2-year term. Thank you, Lily!
We also have a new Baby Bat Ambassador, Malcolm Findley! In a scene with so many 21+ events, it can be hard to find all-ages or even 18+ events, and we want to make sure that no one is left out! Our goal is to continue to bridge the age gap in our community, and the Baby Bat Ambassador helps to create a liaison for all the under 21 Baby Bats. We are excited to have Malcolm as our ambassador and liaison, and look forward to working with him and strengthening our community even more.
From Malcolm: “I am thrilled to be a part of the community as your Baby Bat Ambassador! My goal is to make younger folks feel more welcomed, and safe to be themselves. I’m hoping to put together more all-ages events, and community get-togethers; as well as charitable drives. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any help, or just someone to talk to. I will do my best to assist you wherever I’m able.”
We have also changed up the schedule for our Open Crypt meetings.
For those who don’t know, Open Crypt (like Open House, but for Goths) meetings are for anyone to come and meet with some of the GPS Board members and talk about ideas, events, make suggestions, etc.
Several months back, we wanted to see if having at least one a week would help to provide more opportunities for participation, but it ended up spreading everyone a little thin (and getting a little confusing), so we’re going to to scale back a bit.
Starting in October, there will be two monthly Open Crypt meetings. One will be 21+ (1st Tuesdays at the Mercury), as the other will be All-Ages (2nd Friday at Tea Republic). This will also enable us to plan and provide more events geared towards social and community-building, such as the Meet-a-Goth, holiday and special events.
And of course, our casual Tea For All socials (3rd Sundays at Remedy Teas) are still going on! We want to thank everyone who has been coming to our events as well! All of you make what we do even more rewarding, and we’re looking forward to the events ahead!
And last but not least, Gothic Pride Seattle has a new President and Vice President! As you know, last month we appointed Lily Munn and Doug Carter as Interim President and Vice President, respectively. This month, after all of our new Board members were in place, we unanimously voted to make Lily and Doug our Official President and Vice President! Both of them have been in the Seattle Gothic community for nearly 2 decades, and been involved with Gothic Pride Seattle since it’s early days. They are dedicated to working together with GPS and our community, now more than ever, to help us keep going forward in a positive direction, help us grow stronger together, and create a safe and stable community-based organization that we can all count on.
So please give a warm welcome to our new members, and congratulations to our new President Lily, and Vice President Doug!