Welcome To Our Web Site!
By Brenda Coley

What is Connexus and how it was formed:
Connexus is an organization of African American LGBT Individuals seeking to create cohesion in Milwaukee’s AA LGBT community. Responding to growing concerns about a lack of a solid infrastructure that specifically serves the African American lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, a group of AA LGBT individuals initiated an 18 month process to address this issue.

This process began by convening of an AALGBT Leadership Summit in 2006. More than 50 AALGBT people participated and formed a planning group to discover the best form such an infrastructure should take. The planning group conducted surveys and held identity focus groups to collect broad cross section of opinions and ideas. The planning group held numerous meetings to analyze the information collected from the community on what the AALGBT community needs and the best methods to address those needs.

A result of this process was a list of goals agreed upon by the majority of community respondents. They included:

• Opportunities to socialize in healthy environments
• Development of leadership
• Opportunities to caucus
• Teaching and education on issues
• Action, and activities (art events and social)
• Program development

And the African American planning committee formed Connexus.

This work was supported and in consultation with Diverse & Resilient, a capacity building, leadership development organization targeting the LGBT Community, through Groups, Programs & Leaders in Wisconsin. In early 2007 Connexus decided to formalize this relationship and petitioned the board of directors at Diverse & Resilient to be constituted as a program within D&R.

In celebration of Gay Pride Month:
Connexus salutes the 2009 celebrations of LGBT pride or gay pride. Gay pride is the belief that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people can be proud of their achievements and contributions to society. It is a movement based on three main premises: that people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity, that diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent and cannot be intentionally altered.[1] Gay Pride has become a mainstream expression of inclusion of individuals from all LGBT communities.