Founded in 1905, Rotary International is known for its community work worldwide. Rotary clubs, however, have not always reflected the diverse populations that they serve. This is why organizations such as Rainbow Rotary Clubs have emerged.
The Rainbow Rotary Club of Tucson became the sixth LGBT-focused Rotary Club worldwide when they established their charter on Oct. 19 during the district conference of clubs.
Chad Denson, charter president, said there are over 50 Rotary Clubs spanning from Yuma to Sierra Vista in the district. Tucson has more than a dozen clubs.
“I don’t think we have been waiting on our charter necessarily. We’ve been doing an awful lot without our charter,” Denson said. “We’re just finally going to be official and be able to properly brand, expand and grow.”
Denson has served as the president of the Pantano Rotary Club in Tucson. Janette Mongelli, the Rainbow Rotary club’s media chair, was also a member of the same club, and her son is the district’s only Junior Rotarian.
Denson said he and Mongelli wanted to help bring change to the organization through a Tucson Rainbow Rotary Club.
“It’s still underrepresented by people of color and by the queer community,” Denson said.
“Really, Rotary has aged over the years because it’s failed to connect with younger members. So, several years ago, Janette and I started down the path of figuring out how we could make Rotary available to younger members and also to a wider range of the community, a more diverse range of the community. We had a lot of friends that identified as queer, relatives and acquaintances, and it just seemed like a natural fit to expand into. So, we started going down that path.”
Mongelli said with the Tucson club, they hope to make Rotary a more inclusive space that is welcoming to LGBT people and allies.
“I think living in and around Tucson, the clubs don’t necessarily represent the demographics of the community itself… If you’ve ever been to a meeting, it does tend to screw older certainly, and good amount of folks in the clubs tend to be white,” Mongelli said.
“As you know, that’s not necessarily what our community is. It’s not to speak negatively of Rotary at all, but I think we’re just coming at it from an angle of how can we get younger folks involved? In addition, can we, as a queer club, provide a safe space for members of the queer community in Rotary, who might not have necessarily have felt comfortable otherwise? I think one of our goals is to make sure folks feel comfortable and not just within our club but as we start interacting with other clubs in our district, nationally, and internationally.”
Recently, Rotary International has been working to reach different groups, including LGBT people and BIPOC communities. The local Rainbow Rotary Club is part of this effort.
The Tucson club is starting with 31 members, who come from different backgrounds, including people who identify as polyamorous, gay, lesbians and transgender and allies.
Denson said moving forward, he wants to ensure that LGBT people of different backgrounds have a voice in their group.
“I do not identify as queer. I am a strong ally. It’s important for me to not dictate or steer the club. I’ve been a member of Rotary for almost 15 years. I’ve been the district treasurer. I’ve got a really solid background. I want to help get the club off the ground, but make sure the club is being steered and directed by queer membership for queer membership and for the community,” Denson said.
The club will cover Southern Arizona, including Tucson, Sierra Vista, Rio Rico, SaddleBrooke, Green Valley and Tubac.
Membership in one Rotary Club allows members the chance to attend Rotary Club meetings across the world.
Denson hopes the club will inspire and serve as a model for other Rainbow Rotary clubs that develop in the future.
“We believe if we do a good job with setting up the infrastructure for this club, the processes, the procedures, a list of speakers, reading materials and service projects, and we develop a model that can be followed, this queer model could be taken in Rotary on a more global level,” Denson said.
The Tucson club has been trying to learn from other Rainbow Rotary Clubs, including one in Minnesota.
“As luck would have it, my company is based in Minnesota. I actually get to go up there. I’m able to network with folks who are members of the Minneapolis club, which is great from a mentorship perspective, in terms of how did you grow your club? How are you reaching out to these diverse communities and making them feel heard and accepted?” Mongelli said.
Denson has also engaged with an online club called Rotarians in Service for Equality, which is based out of Los Angeles.
“I went to their meetings for a long time, learning about their programs and what they do. They do some amazing work. They vowed to help us any way that they can,” Denson said.
Mongelli said it can be hard to attract younger members because of their busy work and family schedules. She said they are trying to offer different avenues for participation, including online and in-person meetings, presentations, social gatherings and projects.
Many in-person meetings and presentations will occur at the Catalina United Methodist Church at 2700 E. Speedway Boulevard.
The club has already been partnering with other organizations.
Their initial steering committee comprised people from the Tucson LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, Southern Arizona Senior Pride and the Sonoran Institute.
“A whole bunch of people from organizations in the community did a community needs assessment, to see if a Rotary club would be a viable thing in the queer community or if those needs were already being filled. I think we found some needs could be met and that the Rotary club would be a viable thing and a great way to get people involved that otherwise wouldn’t be involved in community service. Then, we went about spreading the word about what we were trying to do around our community, just having conversations with people in a grass-roots, old-fashioned manner,” Denson said.
They have plans to do service projects geared toward LGBTQ youth.
As part of their partnership with Youth On Their Own, an organization serving homeless youth in Pima County, the local club helped with making pride welcome kits for LGBT youth and will assist with creating a rainbow crosswalk at their new location.
In the future, they hope to do clothing swaps for transgender youth, offer college scholarships for LGBT youth, and mentor high school students. Denson said the club will help provide volunteers at other organizations’ events.
“We want to be there for the community in the ways that it already exists. We know that the existing organizations already need help, but there’s going to be other things that our members identify that we want to be there to do as well,” Denson said.
They have started and will continue to feature a range of speakers, who will discuss topics relevant to Tucson’s LGBT community.
Recently, Elena Joy Thurston spoke about her own experience with conversion therapy, giving insight into how it nearly killed her.
Sebastian Dziuk share his experience of being transgender in the military, especially how he couldn’t be out while serving.
“We’re trying to have really impactful presentations… We’re just having great folks from the community show up both locally and internationally. We’ve got a broad network…By partnering with some of these other clubs, we can be educational and inspirational and provide similar programming that Rotary clubs are used to having,” Denson said.
Mongelli said the presentations are open to anyone, not just club members.
The club also plans to provide ally training, including using pronouns.
Each month, they try to offer social gatherings for members. They have done paint nights, happy hours and storytelling events.
They are going to start doing fundraisers soon, including a bake sale at the Royal Room in Downtown Tucson.
Rainbow Rotary of Tucson
rainbowrotarytucson.org
instagram.com/rainbowrotarytucson
