Through the front entrance, down a set of stairs and the end of a long hallway is the Grinnell United Church of Christ’s (UCC) Friendship Hall. It is a multipurpose space used for church gatherings and activities where the people of Grinnell can gather and foster community.
On Friday, Mar. 21 at 6 p.m., the UCC hosted Grinnell’s first ever Third Fridays, Third Space event. Third Fridays, Third Space will offer a designated time and place for queer people in Grinnell, and those who wish to support them, to find resources and community.
The idea for the event, like a great many things in Grinnell, started at a table in Saints Rest. It was the brainchild of Grinnell’s developing PFLAG chapter and the Grinnell Organizing Collective, a group started following the 2024 presidential election which focuses on protecting community members that may be more vulnerable under the new administration.
“My version of the story,” said Liz Rodrigues, humanities and digital scholarship librarian at Grinnell College and founding member of the Grinnell Organizing Collective, “is that we were having our second meeting after the election, and an older gay couple in Grinnell attended that meeting, and they shared that one need that they felt in the community was they didn’t have a queer community … And they were like, we have had a hard time finding our peers here. And immediately people’s eyes went up around the table. We were like, we could do that. We could make a space.”
UCC, home to a congregation that has been open and affirming for 25 years, seemed an ideal location for the event.
“We are centrally located, we have a rich history of being in an affirming and welcoming space, and we’ve got tons of room to do it in our Friendship Hall,” said Reverend Jessica Margrave Schirm, the UCC pastor.
On the first Third Friday, round tables populated the space — some had coloring books and drawing implements, while one was nearly covered in pride flags, buckets of stickers and temporary tattoos celebrating queer identities. Across from the entrance was a table with food and drinks — cookies, chips, fruit, seltzer and more.
People started to trickle in right around 6 p.m., and the room quickly filled. Attendees were diverse in many respects — age, profession, identification as queer or as an ally. Community members joined together with hopes of laying the foundation for a visible queer community capable of providing resources and support.
“You really need community. People that have been where you’ve been and understood what you’ve gone through. So that’s kind of how this group tonight got together,” said Reverend Bonnie Lipton, a retired pastor who moved to Grinnell about two and a half years ago with her wife, Pat.
“Tonight, my wife and I are happy to be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary with everybody here,” Lipton said. “We brought a couple cakes, because we didn’t have anybody to celebrate with and now, tonight, you know, we have 50, 60 people we’re celebrating with, so I just give thanks for that.”
For some, Third Fridays, Third Space represents an important step towards ensuring that Grinnell has resources available for queer youth, especially transgender youth.
“I have a son who’s a Grinnell alum who is trans, and he’s living in the Twin Cities, so he’s safe for now, you know from what’s happening here, but I just want to offer a place of refuge for any kids who are going through the feelings that anybody has when they’re realizing they’re not in the right body,” said Liz Queathem, professor of biology at Grinnell College. “They’re not going to be getting support from the state. Everybody is coming down on them now, and I want to make sure they have a place to go.”
Reiterating its purpose, Monique Shore`90, an organizer of the event, said, “Whether you’re queer yourself, whether you’re just an ally and you want to show support, [it’s] just a safe space where we can come and have everybody feel celebrated and supported, where they know that they can show their pride without having to worry.”
Third Fridays, Third Space will continue for the foreseeable future, happening on the third Friday of the month from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Friendship Hall at the United Church of Christ.
