be gay do community building

Come join us in meeting room C on the first floor of the Bartlesville Public Library from 5:30 to 7:30 pm tomorrow, June 11th, 2026, to work on crafts or play games!

Bring a craft from home to work on or use some of the amazing craft supplies and kits that the library offers to start a new one. Bring a game (to share or to parallel play on your own) or just come enjoy what's provided!

These meetings are casual and drop in, so feel free to come and go whenever works for you and take part however much you're comfortable with.

BACC's peer supports pop up every second Thursday of the month. Keep an eye on our socials to make sure you have the latest info on possible location changes, but we usually meet at the local library!

The Bartlesville Public Library is wheelchair accessible. Please reach out if you have any accessibility concerns or need any help to attend.

We also post updates on our other social media, including our Substack blog where you can also sign up for our email newsletter to get the latest info on our upcoming events, announcements, and more delivered to your inbox! You can find all our socials through our linktree here.

It’s that time of year again already, and we’re so excited to celebrate Pride month with you all!

We’ll be gathering in Johnstone Park in the large pavilion by the playground to connect with community, make art, work on tie-dye, and celebrate being ourselves!

You’re welcome to bring your own picnic dinner and folding chair or picnic blanket to relax around the park.

This is a free, all-ages event where everyone who would like to celebrate Pride in a relaxed environment with community is welcome to attend.

If you’d like to do tie-dye, please bring a white cotton item from home and a plastic bag to transport your dyed item in. The rest of the supplies will be provided! This is a first-come, first-serve craft that will be available throughout the event as long as supplies last.

If you’re a local organization, small business, artist, or performer that would like to get involved in this event, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us! We can’t make sales in the park, but we’d love to work with you and have you promote your work, resources, services, and talents by setting up a booth, performing, or otherwise having a presence at this event.

If you’d like to volunteer to help make this event happen, we have plenty of opportunities for you to get involved including setup/teardown, crafts and activities, first aid/safety team, passing out water, and more. Reach out for more info! People like you make these events happen!

To get involved, please reach out to us over email at [email protected].

MONTHLY PEER SUPPORT MEET UP!

Come join us in meeting room C on the first floor of the Bartlesville Public Library from 5:30 to 7:30 pm to work on crafts or play games!

Bring a craft from home to work on or use some of the amazing craft supplies and kits that the library offers to start a new one (aren't public libraries the best??).

Bring a game (to share or to parallel play on your own) or just come enjoy what's provided.

Training, reporting resources, and other basics for every day people in NE Oklahoma to connect and take care of one another

Hey friends!

Here in Green Country, we love our home and our neighbors, and we’re always looking for ways to continue to take care of one another.

We know when faced with rapidly evolving situations, it can be easy to accidentally spread panic and misinformation when communicating virtually. So we’d like to take a moment to talk about accurate reporting on the presence of federal agents and operations, what community support can look like, and some tools and resources that everyday folks can use to take care of their community.

S.A.L.U.T.E. reporting method

When sharing information on something you’ve witnessed, avoid vague warnings that spread fear without context. Instead, use the SALUTE method to relay relevant information.

•S—Size/strength (”5 to 6 law enforcement officers”)

•A—Actions/activity (”harassing random people on the street”)

•L—Location/direction (”Chicago, West of Millennium Park, on Michigan Ave”)

•U—Uniform/clothes (”Dark Blue uniforms that say ‘Police ICE’ on the back”)

•T—Time and date of observation (”12:45 PM January 20”)

•E—Equipment and weapons (”They have helmets, vests and batons”)

Know your rights and stay safe!

The ACLU offers advice on how to reduce your risks while documenting police and federal agents:

“Even though you have the right to record and document law enforcement and federal agents in public, we’re all too aware that there can be significant daylight between what the law requires and what happens in practice. It’s important to know your rights, and also to know your risks.

“Some law enforcement officials react harshly to those who record their activities, including by threatening and making arrests — or worse. Even though retaliation is a violation of your constitutional rights, and you may be protected from prosecution or punishment if and when your case goes before a judge, we understand how terrifying and threatening it can be when law enforcement reacts aggressively to being filmed. We want to help you minimize your risk and protect your safety and the safety of those around you.

Maintain your distance from law enforcement and federal agents and do not touch them.

Avoid sudden movements and remain calm.

Film openly and keep your hands visible.

If you are in a car, don’t have your phone in your hand while driving. As an alternative, you can use a hands-free dashcam or have a passenger record.

Follow law enforcement instructions and never physically resist or obstruct agents.

“If you feel comfortable doing so, you can continue to record and use your documentation to prove you complied with law enforcement instructions (for example, if law enforcement orders you to move back, say “I’m moving back” aloud as you step back, so your response can be heard in the recording).”

You can read more from the ACLU’s Know Your Rights guide here.

Make sure information you share is accurate and up to date

Use the SALUTE method when reporting first hand, and avoid sharing unverified reports on social media or reports that are several days or more old. Operations by ICE and cooperating agencies are constantly evolving, so sharing posts from several days ago can misrepresent what’s happening in a specific location currently.

It’s also a good idea to go back and delete posts a few days later so the algorithm isn’t boosting outdated information.

If you can, share your reports with an organization working to verify and share community reports in your area like TulsaLatinosUnidos.

You can also use resources like iceout.org, a map that tracks ICE activity and sorts it by date to keep information current, or the signal chat Eyes on ICE—Green Country, Oklahoma where community members in NE Oklahoma can share their reports and help verify information.

Connect with your neighbors and community

When combating movements that weaponize fear to silence us while our rights are infringed upon an our neighbors are harmed, connection and cooperation are our first and greatest weapons against the isolation and hopelessness that can paralyze us and keep us from taking care of ourselves and one another.

It’s easy to see posts or headlines about something happening hours away from you, and feel like you need to do something there. While there is a time and place for rallying in numbers, the most effective everyday change happens in our own communities. The reality is that what we’re seeing nationally will, and already is, affecting our entire country. Taking the time to connect with the people around you and figure out how you can support your own immediate community is vital to change on a state and national level.

Introduce yourself to your neighbors, make small talk, connect over shared humanity, and exchange contact info. Think about who lives within a 5 to 10 minute drive from you and how you would let any of them know if you needed help, or vice versa. Connect with 5 people that live within that 5 to 10 minutes distance from you and start creating a plan together on how you’d support the community in your area in crisis.

Get involved with groups already doing the work and use established resources

Not sure where to start?

Recent events have started broader conversations on issues like the rights of Immigrants, protestors, witnesses, and reporters, to name a few, but the issues themselves are far from new. If you’re not sure where to turn for next steps, or how to connect and organize within your community, seek out advice from people who have been doing the work before it was making national headlines.

One example is Dream Action Oklahoma. They’re “a community-based organization that aims to empower our local immigrant community through advocacy and education to ensure justice for all immigrants.”

DAOK hosts trainings to educate the public on constitutional rights, community engagement and advocacy, nonviolent resistance, and more. They’re based in OKC, but host trainings in other cities and sometimes have virtual options.

Check out their website to see what upcoming trainings they have available. At the time of writing, you can still sign up for their “Immigrant Solidarity Allies & Know Your Rights Training” on Saturday, February 7th, 2026 at 4:30pm CST here.

In NE Oklahoma, groups like TulsaLatinosUnidos, Tulsa Food Not Bombs, Tulsa Intersectional Care Network, Tulsa Really Really Free Market, Oklahoma Harm Reduction Alliance, HOPE testing, and BeHeard, to name a few, are on the ground connecting people with verified information, food and other basic necessities, harm reduction supplies, education, resources, and community.

Follow the work of a group you’d like to get involved in and keep an eye out for volunteer or training opportunities.

Real change takes all of us working together in ways that make sense for our own communities using the tools and experience of those who have done this work before us. When it feels overwhelming or unapproachable, remember that building networks of support, education, and advocacy that allow us to move past reaction to real change can start with talking to your neighbors and checking in on your friends.

It’s time for our monthly peer support meet-up! Come enjoy some self-led crafting and good company with us from 5:30pm to 7:30pm tomorrow, Thursday, December 11th, in meeting room C of the Bartlesville Public Library!

Needing someone to talk to, looking to make new friends, or wanting some company while you work on a crafting project? Bring whatever you're working on (from crochet to coloring books) and come hang out with us!

If you're not in the mood to craft but would like someone to talk to, that's alright too!

Everyone 18+ who is looking to give or receive peer support in an inclusive

environment is welcome to attend, craft or no.

These meetings are casual, drop-in, and open forum. So feel free to come and go whenever works for you and take part however much you're comfortable with.

The Bartlesville Public Library is wheelchair accessible. Please reach out if you have any accessibility concerns or need any help to attend in person or virtually.

Come by the Minds Matter Mental Health Market right inside the food court entrance of the Washington Park Mall in Bartlesville, OK, for free snacks, crafts, resources, and community!

We’ll be here until 3pm sharing harm reduction supplies, information on our programs, and craft activities!

Bartlesville Community Pride LOCATION CHANGE: When celebrating rainbows, you have to be prepared for rain!

Due to several days of rain that have turned our outdoor venue space into a mud puddle waiting to happen, Bartlesville Community Pride is moving indoors to the downstairs studio theater in Bartlesville Community Center (same venue, but indoors). This move keeps our event accessible and climate controlled!

We appreciate everyone’s patience in dealing with Oklahoma weather (if you live here, you get it!), and we’re so excited to be celebrating with you tomorrow like everyday of the year, rain or shine!

Our event plans haven’t changed, so you can look forward to a vendor market, mutual aid market, live performances, and activities!

And this year it’s FULL CAMP!

Sunday, October 26th from 4pm to 9pm, in the studio theater of the Bartlesville Community Center at 300 SE Adams Blvd, Bartlesville, OK, dress up and dress out—this’ll be a Pride Halloween you can’t live without!

To celebrate Pride, the joy of self expression, and the Halloween season, we’re encouraging everyone to dress up! Whether that means drag, your most extra Pride apparel, a Halloween costume, or any outfit that fills you with joy, come as you are!

We’re so glad you’re YOU, and we’re ready to celebrate!

The studio theater is located at the bottom of the spiral ramp that is directly to your right when entering the main doors of the Bartlesville Community Center. We will have signage during the event to point the way!

Help us fund additional resources for our security team by donating to our tax-exempt fundraiser at www.givebutter.com/okbacc!

Bartlesville Community Pride Update:

Let us start by saying THANK YOU SO SO MUCH to the community, to our volunteers, to everyone who has reached out, and to all the new connections we have made in the last two plus months. The response we have seen from our community locally and throughout Oklahoma has been awe-inspiring. Truly from the bottom of our hearts, we are so inspired by you. Our slogan has been “We’ve got your BACC” since the beginning, and we meant it. Seeing how the turns have tabled is something we weren’t emotionally prepared for. Thank you all for reminding us what community and mutual support means.

Our work isn’t done:

Our event on Sunday, October 26th, 2025, is quickly approaching, and we still have funding goals to meet!

An out-of-town hate group has been attempting to disrupt our event before it even happens and is also planning to have a presence at the event itself.

We’re not particularly surprised.

We are, however, taking the safety of our attendees, volunteers, performers, vendors, participating organizations, and the public at large very seriously.

The good news is that we have the pleasure of working with the amazing Stonewall Security, a CLEET-certified private security firm based in OKC that has a lot of experience working with Pride events. We’ve been consulting with our security on how we and our volunteer safety team can support their security efforts at this event as well as seeking legal advice from the ACLU and clarification from the city of Bartlesville to ensure we understand our rights and how best to navigate this situation.

The long and short of it is: we’ve got this, but additional funding would really help make aspects of crowd-control easier for our security team.

Specifically, additional funding would support our security’s efforts by covering the cost of barricades to secure the event perimeter. This would not limit who is able to enter the event but would create designated entrance and exit points to make our security personnels’ jobs easier in observing the flow of attendees and watching for any potential issues.

One thing we can be sure of: Pride IS happening in Bartlesville.

No matter how much we raise in funding, we ARE celebrating being alive and being OURSELVES this Sunday, October 26th. But this additional funding and the security resources that it would provide would significantly support safety efforts for this event, which is our #1 priority.

How to help us reach this goal:

With our recent fiscal sponsorship with Oklahoma Pride Alliance, we are now using the nonprofit fundraising platform Givebutter. You can find our donation page at the givebutter.com/okbacc or the QR code in the graphic.

Any overflow of funds will be put to use for future free and inclusive community events, programs, services, and resources.

Again: This Pride event WILL happen no matter how much funding we receive.

And we want to be clear: DONATION OR NO, WE’RE GLAD YOU’RE HERE!

If you can, please share our posts or send them to friends and loved ones—that simple share/copy link button is a big help!

Please don’t feel like you’re contributing less if you’re unable to donate! Being here, being yourself, and being involved in your community is just as vital to the work of positive change as anything. We’re thankful that you’re here and that you’re YOU!

At Bartlesville Community Pride 2025 on October 26th, in addition to our vendors and resource booths, we will also be hosting a Mutual Aid Market where community members can share goods and services for free!

Unlike our vendor and resource booths, you don’t need to signup to participate. Just bring yourself, services to offer, resources to promote, gently used items small enough to carry to share, and come set up! Or just come shop!

Setup is first come, first serve, and if we have enough demand, we will rotate out Mutual Aid Market booths at two-hour intervals.

When bringing goods/services to share, please stay with your items until you’re done, and take what’s unused with you when you leave. Please clean up after yourself and leave nothing behind as we don’t currently have the infrastructure to store leftover items!

We will have tables set up for you to use, but please bring folding chairs if possible. (If you have any accommodation needs, don’t hesitate to reach out to us! We will do everything within our power to meet your needs!)

This Mutual Aid Market is all about neighbors supporting neighbors to benefit the whole community—so no sales or exchanges of money will take place at these booths! Look for the Mutual Aid Market signage to tell this area apart from our vendor market area where you can shop to support local businesses, artists, and creatives!

If you have questions, would like more information, or would like to volunteer to help manage the Mutual Aid Market, email us at [email protected]!

Today, and every day of the year, we celebrate the vibrant cultures, diverse experiences, and rich history of all Indigenous peoples and Tribal Nations in Oklahoma and across Turtle Island, and we stand in solidarity with all those continuing the generations-long fight to defend Tribal rights.

The ongoing attacks that we’re seeing on the culture, rights, history, and lives of Indigenous peoples today are a product of the continuation of Colonization in Oklahoma, the United States, and Turtle Island as a whole.

We uphold the Sovereignty of all 39 Tribal Nations in Oklahoma and the right to dignity, safety, culture, identity, community, and self-determination of all Indigenous peoples.

Exciting news: BACC is now fiscally sponsored by Oklahoma Pride Alliance!

What does this mean?

Under the 501c3 umbrella of Oklahoma Pride Alliance (OKPA), BACC is now operating as a legal entity. That means donations to BACC are now tax deductible, we have more fundraising opportunities open to us, and we have a dedicated fiscal sponsorship fund for the money we raise which allows us to handle larger sums of money going forward and continue to be transparent about the work your donations fund.

This fiscal sponsorship also means that we have the invaluable support and guidance of OKPA as we continue to grow as an organization.

Does this change how BACC operates?

Fundamentally, no.

We are still community grown, led, and organized. Fiscal sponsorship helps us handle the finances with clear boundaries and oversight to uphold transparency and trust for our donors. It doesn’t change our dedication to a decentralized power structure that allows anyone in the community to play an active role in our work.

Put simply: the door will always be open and there are always more seats at the table for anyone who wants to be involved in community-driven organizing. Fiscal sponsorship doesn’t change that, it gives us more options and opportunity for future endeavors.

Why the change to fiscal sponsorship?

The astounding influx of support for our work combined with the ever-increasing needs of our community prompted us to establish infrastructure that allows us to responsibly handle larger sums of money to support our work now and in the future.

Previously, our events, programs, and resources have been supported by donations of goods and volunteered services with minimal financial backing, so we were able to handle smaller amounts of funds as a community organization without 501c3 sponsorship.

When we received more financial donations in a few days than we had in the almost two years prior, we turned to the guidance of others with more experience in managing larger funds from both a legal and organizational perspective for advice on how to proceed. As community organizers, we believe one of the most important things you can do when working for the benefit of an entire community is recognize when you don’t know something or could otherwise benefit from guidance.

The spectacular advice and support we received led us to make the decision to enter into a fiscal sponsorship so that we can continue our work while honoring the responsibility of handling substantial donated funds.

What changes can be expected?

Under this fiscal sponsorship, we have a brand new online fundraiser through Givebutter. As a grassroots-funded organization, we source the majority of our funding from the communities we serve. That means we’re able to center those communities’ needs over corporate, state, or federal interests.

If you contributed to our Spotfund fundraiser (THANK YOU!), your donations are now in our fiscal sponsorship fund through OKPA and are being used to pay for our venue and security costs for Bartlesville Community Pride 2025.

You can donate to our Givebutter at the givebutter.com/okbacc or the QR code.

Please consider sharing to help support Bartlesville Community Pride 2025 and free inclusive programs, events, resources, and services year-round.