About Us
Queer Humboldt is grateful to the Wiyot, Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and neighboring Tribes for their leadership, stewardship and many cultural contributions, both historical and present. We affirm Native sovereignty. We pledge 1% of our annual budget to the Wiyot Tribe through the honor tax program and we pledge to dismantle settler-colonialism through our work in the community.
Queer Humboldt practices intersectional liberation; we work to be allies and accomplices for all marginalized populations since when any of us are oppressed, we all suffer. Queer people exist in all communities, thus queer liberation is inextricable intertwined with the Black Lives Matter movement, just immigration policies and practices, Native sovereignty, Disability Rights, feminism, body positivity and all movements that dismantle systems of oppression.
We believe decolonizing heteronormative ideals of love, family and sexuality is necessary for the health and restoration of our world.
Why Queer?
From the November 2003 MQS (Multicultural Queer Studies) Minor Coming Out Party at HSU:
Why “queer”? For many this term is an epithet, an insult, a threat. For many, the word has been reclaimed, much like the pink triangle, which came from the Holocaust but now is deployed and displayed as a symbol of gay and lesbian pride and activism. The insult behind the word “queer” is to say that someone is not normal. In reclaiming “queer,” activists and academics declare that there is value in challenging the norm. For many the word is more inclusive, more plural, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and other categories and refusals of categories. For many the word is more politicized, more radical, than the other options.
Our history:
In May 2003, Todd Larsen and Michael Weiss moved from Southern California to Humboldt County. While researching the move, they found no central online site to help visitors and locals with queer friendly resources. With this in mind, Todd and Michael created the Queer Humboldt website to provide a communication vehicle for the 2004 Humboldt Pride event, which they co-chaired. The website then expanded to include visitor and relocation information as a result of the many inquiries and calls they received from people planning to visit or relocate to Humboldt County. The Queer Humboldt nonprofit was thus created.
In September of 2020, Todd, Michael and the third board member, Deb, retired from the Queer Humboldt Board of Directors and passed leadership to Tai, Levia and Cori. There was a passing of the torch event and the group became a BIPOC lead organization, dedicated to centering marginalized people within the LGBTQ2+ community. With a new equity vision and intersectional liberation approach to supporting our local queer community, new programs were developed as Queer Humboldt began growing to meet community needs during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
The new Queer Humboldt offers our thanks to Todd, Michael and Deb for gifting us this nonprofit and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve our communities.