THE GOOD PLACE
Warm Welcome
A dedicated 2SLGBTQIA+ organization in Newfoundland and Labrador is creating a safer space for everyone.
By Sarah Laing
(Top) Quadrangle staff and supporters are all smiles at the St. John’s Pride parade in July 2024. (Above) Morgan Moakler Jessiman, Quadrangle’s community and strategic relations coordinator. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF QUADRANGLE
INSIDE QUADRANGLE IN ST. JOHN’S, there’s a palpably homey vibe. There are light snacks and drinks, free stickers and pins, and personal care items such as makeup, shampoo and soaps on offer. It also features “rainbows everywhere, comfy couches, a TV and Switch [video] games ... [it’s] a safer space where you can authentically be yourself,” says Morgan Moakler Jessiman, Quadrangle’s community and strategic relations coordinator.
Allowing people to be their authentic selves is central to Quadrangle’s mission: to create and maintain a physical space welcoming to all members of Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The organization, which celebrates its tenth birthday this year, opened its first permanent physical space in 2023; now, it operates as a hangout spot and resource centre, offering services and programs designed to foster social connections and advance all aspects of health and quality of life for the community it serves.
“Whether we’re supporting rural and remote communities with visibility items such as pride flags, or accompanying people to their legal name changes, there’s never a day where I don’t love my job.”
Programming and services take many forms. There’s a Trans Navigator program that helps folks on their gender affirmation journey, an entrepreneurship training program supporting local businesses, a club for queer youth, a craft club, and events ranging from free “Chosen Family” dinners to an annual Drag Bingo fundraiser. At Quadrangle’s Self Care Sunday events, volunteer stylists offer gender-affirming hairstyling on a pay-what-you-can basis. “This event is one of my favourites because watching people engaging in a gender-affirming act like [getting] a perfect haircut is extremely rewarding,” says Moakler Jessiman.
The common thread that runs through it all? “We exist to serve the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and [its] allies,” Moakler Jessiman says. “Whether we’re supporting rural and remote communities with visibility items such as pride flags, or accompanying people to their legal name changes, there’s never a day where I don’t love my job.” CAA
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(From left) Quadrangle staff and supporters are all smiles at the St. John's Pride parade in July 2024; Morgan Moakler Jessiman, Quadrangle's community and strategic relations coordinator. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF QUADRANGLE
(From top) Quadrangle staff and supporters are all smiles at the St. John's Pride parade in July 2024; Morgan Moakler Jessiman, Quadrangle's community and strategic relations coordinator. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF QUADRANGLE
INSIDE QUADRANGLE IN ST. JOHN’S, there’s a palpably homey vibe. There are light snacks and drinks, free stickers and pins, and personal care items such as makeup, shampoo and soaps on offer. It also features “rainbows everywhere, comfy couches, a TV and Switch [video] games...[it’s] a safer space where you can authentically be yourself,” says Morgan Moakler Jessiman, Quadrangle’s community and strategic relations coordinator.
Allowing people to be their authentic selves is central to Quadrangle’s mission: to create and maintain a physical space welcoming to all members of Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community. The organization, which celebrates its tenth birthday this year, opened its first permanent physical space in 2023; now, it operates as a hangout spot and resource centre, offering services and programs designed to foster social connections and advance all aspects of health and quality of life for the community it serves.
“Whether we’re supporting rural and remote communities with visibility items such as pride flags, or accompanying people to their legal name changes, there’s never a day where I don’t love my job.”
Programming and services take many forms. There’s a Trans Navigator program that helps folks on their gender affirmation journey, an entrepreneurship training program supporting local businesses, a club for queer youth, a craft club, and events ranging from free “Chosen Family” dinners to an annual Drag Bingo fundraiser. At Quadrangle’s Self Care Sunday events, volunteer stylists offer gender-affirming hairstyling on a pay-what-you-can basis. “This event is one of my favourites because watching people engaging in a gender-affirming act like [getting] a perfect haircut is extremely rewarding,” says Moakler Jessiman.
The common thread that runs through it all? “We exist to serve the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and [its] allies,” Moakler Jessiman says. “Whether we’re supporting rural and remote communities with visibility items such as pride flags, or accompanying people to their legal name changes, there’s never a day where I don’t love my job.” CAA