I met Kimi Barbosa (they/he/she), executive director of Positive Images, during lunch hour at their art-decorated rainbow clubhouse. I entered their spot in step with their door-dasher. Lunch was politely deferred, and we had a friendly chat.
As Barbosa talked and I listened, I came to see that their cozy and somewhat cramped clubhouse reflected the origins of Positive Images—that of a safe meeting place for queers founded in the darkest years of the AIDS crisis.
The non-profit’s services now reflect its present moment: resource navigation, youth and adult support groups, an LGBTQI+ therapy fund, workplace sensitivity training, public presentations, school clubs, public events, parade contingents, partnerships and public policy.
Their progressed mission was the bridge between past and present—an effort to turn all of the North Bay into a safe space for LGBTQI+ people—because a single room, no matter how large and colorfully decorated, is too much like a closet.
CH: Kimi, what is your message for your LGBTQI+ community in these times?
KB: It is a scary time. It feels like the world is against us because, frankly, the world is against us. Many of Trump’s executive orders directly target our community. This is the time—more than ever—to find the light in each other. Support each other. Be the rock for each other. Community care needs to be held very closely for the next four years.
CH: And Kimi, what is your message to the broader community?
KB: We aren’t going to be scared back into the closet or kept from living our truth in our authentic identities. But we need allies. Now more than ever. We need our allies to show up and stand in solidarity with us—visibly, in public, out loud. We can’t do this alone. The CDC has reported that anti-LGBT hate crimes were on the rise even before Trump took office.
Learn more. Visit posimages.org for a complete list of services, history and video introductions with their incredibly stylish staff. Barbosa warns that the Trump administration is cutting off Federal dollars to LGBTQI+ non-profits like Positive Images, so they encourage donations.
If one feels that their workplace would benefit from queer and trans sensitivity training, Barbosa invites a booking with Positive Images.
