The struggle for marriage equality has involved the national LGBT community in a new dialogue about diversity and the expansion of the LGBT community.

People of color and of all nationalities, people of all genders and with many gender expressions, youth, families, seniors, people of faith, military personnel and political moderates are all expanding the face of the LGBT community. For example, there is an emerging movement in the LGBT community comprised of people of faith seeking to reclaim their faiths, religions and spiritual expressions from those who seem to have hijacked them for political gain. Many faiths have explicit traditions of tolerance, acceptance, equality and compassion, and a growing number of organizations and communities have begun to make space for these newly vocal community members of faith.

Additionally, there are more “out” and proudly vocal veterans than ever before. More and more community members are having or adopting children and creating families. Youth have come out and into the community at earlier ages and in greater numbers than ever before. Seniors who had previously been less engaged are re-engaging. Political moderates and even some conservative pundits have begun to join the dialogue. Each of these groups expands the circle of faces that make up our community. And each group challenges all of our organizations to ensure even greater diversity and representation among our memberships, boards and volunteers.

This phenomenal growth and increasing visibility of our community also brings many challenges. How do we balance the diverse needs of such divergent communities? How do we create family-friendly and youth-safe events, as well as continue to celebrate adult activities? How do we honor both the voices that oppose international wars and celebrate the service of our veterans? How do we ensure the rights of all political voices to be heard, while we continue to aggressively advocate for human rights progress? How do we celebrate our law enforcement and first responders, along with those who work diligently to reform law enforcement practices for our most vulnerable transgender members? How do we make certain there is room for all of the faces and voices of all faiths? How do we continue to create and integrate a positive and invigorating view of sexual health while expanding a tradition of basic respect?

At the same time we are expanding our definition of the LGBT demographic and community, we are also increasingly visible. That’s the good news and the bad news. Visibility is one tool in our struggle for equality. The more visible we are as people and the more others understand us and our lives, the harder it becomes to demonize and stereotype. But visibility brings scrutiny, and events that were once “insiders only” now sometimes bring both our opponents and the media to them.

Events, occasions and publications that were once “private” or “community only” are now very public, and we are all reminded to reconsider the boundaries between private activities and public representations. How do we want our organizations and community characterized? What is an honest reflection of who we are, and what is an unflattering and sensationalized view based upon stereotypes that, if we are not cautious, we ourselves reinforce? All visibility is not equally helpful in our struggle for acceptance and basic human rights.

We are not the first, nor the only community struggling with these issues of expansion, inclusion and visibility. But some are already predicting that the continued success of our movement forward will now become dependent upon our ability to honestly and respectfully struggle with all of these sometimes competing concerns and groups – and our ability to do so without surrendering to deadly infighting. There are many examples of other movements that have stalled because of a failure to successfully address the issues that arose as they matured. If we are to effectively use our diversity to keep us moving forward, one thing we will have to do for sure is talk to one another. At The Center, we hope to be a hub for the community not just for events and gatherings, but also for just that sort of dialogue.

On Monday, March 20, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., The Center will host “The Center: Growing with San Diego,” its first annual report on The Center’s progress toward meeting the needs of the increasingly diverse composition of the San Diego LGBT community. Please join us as we report on our own progress, and help us begin to develop the roadmap for the future. We invite your thoughts and participation!