Queer Trivia Night for the Queer + Allies Community
Sixth Rainbow Gatherings Event – April 18th
The sixth event for the Comox Valley Queer community is set for Friday, April 18th from 7 – 9 PM and it is celebrating a return to our famous Queer Trivia Night!
There are terrific questions, fabulous answers, another great set of prizes, and a whole evening of fun getting to know local, national, and international gay culture and history as well as participating in inter-generational teams and learning from each other.
The Celebrity MC for this event will be Jojo Jaeger. He is the current President of Queer Centre Comox Valley – an organization formed to build a “third space” for queeers and allies to hang out, build community, and hold events. It is currently focused on serving as an information hub while it raises funds for the creation of a physical space. He is also the founder of Queer For Queer, Comox Valley’s Queer Artist Collective.
As community building and promotion of intergenerational interactions are two of the objectives of the Rainbow Gatherings, participants will be gathered in teams of four, to include at least one person you don’t yet know. Cross generational members of your team will be able to help the team with the wide range of questions being asked.
It is a secular event provided by the Affirm Committee of Comox United Church. All are welcome to attend and participate: queers and their allies, potential allies, old and younger gays and lesbians, high school/college students, seniors, and those in-between, those of various orientations and romantic attractions, neural diversities and all others. It will be a relaxed and fun evening for the community to gather and get to know one another. And this month’s event is setting up to be marvellous, welcoming, inclusive and affirming, not to mention it is also safe and free.
Ben Wang of the Bayside Bistro is offering his regular menu for purchase by those needing a little sustenance and something to slake their thirst. The menu includes a number of sushi and maki rolls, several onigiri items, and a variety of combos which includes spring rolls, steam buns, gyoza and dumplings.
The event is free but tickets are recommended and available through https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/queer-trivia-contest-tickets-1298629990259?aff=ebdssbpointsofinterest . These events are a gift to the queer community to encourage intergenerational gatherings and the sharing that builds community while being fun and engaging.
Even though the Rainbow Gatherings are being offered by the Affirm Committee of Comox United Church, they are held off-site and specifically have no evangelizing or preaching permitted. We recognize that many members of the Queer Community have had historically negative history with churches, many members of the queer community have a warranted concern around church sponsored events. We are focused on providing a community building opportunity to encourage deeper and greater understanding at these events.
The first of these monthly offerings was held last October, a marvellously challenging and informative Queer Trivial Pursuit for intergenerational teams. Each of the 40 participants took home a great prize. The second event in November was a set of speakers who shared their experiences of living and being queer in the Comox Valley. January’s gathering featured a fabulous Queer Karaoke evening where we heard many fantastic voices singing their hearts out! The fourth edition, in February, was an evening of love stories offered up by the participants. The fifth event, in March, was a fun evening of board games.
Looking forward to May, for the final event before the summer break, we are hosting an evening of improv offered by our participants and led by trained improve facilitators. You can be part of an improve team or you can be a member of the audience. Come and make suggestions to the brave improv teams who stand up to be counted!
Bayside Bistro is at 2760 Cliffe Ave, Unit #5, across Cliffe Avenue from the Driftwood Mall.