CLEARWATER, Fla. — As we continue to celebrate Pride month, we are focusing on LGBTQ+ veterans. A March 2023 study estimates that there are a million veterans and 75,000 active service members who identify as LGBTQ+.
That's why Empath Health now offers monthly coffee connections to provide a safe space for these veterans to meet.
David Mapp is a retired marine who served this country from 1975 to 1977. When he moved to Pinellas County a few years ago, he wanted to make new friends.
"Finding this LGBTQ veterans connection group was really an important step for me," Mapp said. "One, to get out of the house and two, to finally meet other people like me."
Trudy Beeler is the Veterans Community Partnership Specialist with Empath Health. She oversees the group.
"There's just an unspoken understanding of the military piece of that and then you have the unspoken understanding of the challenges of navigating LGBTQ," Beeler said.
Mapp says this group has given him support he didn't even realize he needed.
"Things like hearing other people's stories and some of the things they went through," Mapp said. "And being able to share my own story for the first time and not being judged for it. Or should I say pre-judged."
In Pinellas County, the Coffee Connection for LGBTQ+ veterans is the second Thursday of the month. There are also groups in Hillsborough and Sarasota counties. Click here for more information.