Berkshire County — One year ago, a group of queer men started the nonprofit organization Queer Men of the Berkshires (Q-MoB). The organization, which serves queer men in the greater Berkshire County area that includes parts of Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, and Connecticut, was started to help queer men overcome isolation by regularly gathering for activities and to organize support groups and resources.
When Q-MoB started, the organization had approximately 30 members and six activities per month. According to Q-MoB’s Interim Executive Director Bart Church, the organization now has more than 700 members and 20 activities per month.
“The main reason why Q-MoB has grown so much is because, after the pandemic, people are really longing for in-person activities, real connection, and real community,” Church told The Berkshire Edge. “We created Q-MoB and started to offer really fun activities. We really started the organization at the right time because people really felt isolated and cooped up for the longest time. We continue to add 50 to 75 people per month to the organization.”
Church said that outdoor activities are a major part of Q-MoB’s planned activities, with the organization getting groups together for hikes around parts of the greater Berkshires, as well as the organization’s first-ever “Pride Paddle” event that included kayaking and canoeing. “We organize two hikes every month, and hiking, personally, is one of my favorite activities,” Church said. “We have a hiking team and we always draw people from all four states for a hike. People love going outside in nature. We have a naturalist who goes out with us on our hikes and knows the names of the native plants and trees at the location where we hike. We learn a lot about the local ecosystems on our hikes. At the same time, we’re building community, having fun, and getting exercise. It has also helped to build new friendships between other queer men in the greater Berkshire area.”
Church said that another component of Q-MoB’s activities are events exploring the queer aspects of arts and culture. He explained that arts and culture venues in the Berkshire area, including The Clark Art Institute, Jacob’s Pillow, Mass MoCA, and the Berkshire Historical Society, have created special “queer eye” tours that showcase the important contributions queer people have made to art and history. “We feel like we are embracing history by looking at the contributions queer people have made over time,” Church said. “It has been fun working with a lot of arts organizations to help them look at their collections from a queer perspective.”
Over time, the organization has added other monthly activities, including potluck suppers, coffee and tea meetups, fitness classes, and game nights.
The organization has also created an online queer resource directory that includes resources for wellness, housing, and other services, along with the creation of a program to help queer men find affordable housing, and a mentorship, internship, and scholarship program.
Church added that the organization has collaborated with more than 50 area small businesses, 20 arts and cultural organizations, along with educational organizations and health organizations. “Before we started Q-MoB, we could not find any queer men community activities at all,” Church said. “Queer men in the area all felt very isolated. A lot of the younger people were moving away from the greater Berkshire area because they didn’t feel any sense of community at all. Many of these people were reluctant to take jobs in the greater Berkshire area because there was so little of a queer community for them to feel like they would belong. I think that in one year we’ve established quite a large community that is quite capable of organizing 20 to 25 activities every month of all different kinds. I think the greater Berkshire area has become a destination for queer people because Q-MoB has helped to bring together a community where people can find things that they are interested in. I think it’s made the greater Berkshire area a much more supportive place to live.”
For more information about the Queer Men of the Berkshires, visit its website.
