AUSTIN (KXAN) — City leaders would like to hear what neighbors think about the possibility of opening a facility dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community in Austin.
The city’s LGBTQIA+ Quality of Life Commission, which serves as an advisory board for the City Council, will host a town hall on April 15. Organizers said they’re hoping to gather input about an LGBTQIA+ Cultural Center and discuss the potential need for it.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. at the City of Austin’s Permitting and Development Center, located at 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive. Organizers are asking people to enter through the event center doors facing Wilhelmina Delco Drive.
Here’s the schedule of events for that evening:
- 6-6:30 p.m. Tabling from city departments and community organizations.
- 6:30-6:40 p.m. Town hall begins with the intention from the commission.
- 6:40-7:30 p.m. Community consultation on need for an LGBTQIA+ Cultural Center.
- 7:30-8 p.m. Open forum from the community.
The commission previously released a lengthy LGBTQ+ Quality of Life study in 2021, which identified investing in creating an LGBTQIA+ community center as one of its key recommendations. The study included more than 200 interviews from town halls, stakeholders and focus groups as well as responses from a 156-question online survey. The more than 2,100 responses to the online survey came from LGBTQIA+ individuals living in Travis, Hays, Bastrop, Williamson, Burnet and Blanco Counties.
The discussion comes after Texas lawmakers debated and ultimately approved new laws last year that would affect the state’s LGBTQ+ community. Those included one measure that banned transgender minors from receiving certain health care options and another that would restrict and even criminalize drag performances.