ANNABELLE SIKES STAFF WRITER
B
yron Lee was searching the Baldwin Park Homeowner’s Association page for groups to join in the area when he noticed something was missing. The page had groups for nearly everything — from sports clubs to art, yoga, moms with strollers, Chinese board games and more. Lee felt like none of the groups was for him. Lee says he had seen Pride flags around the neighborhood, but when he searched for a local group, he came up with nothing. That’s when he got the idea. “I wanted to create something where I could meet up with others that liked and experienced some of the same things that I did,” Lee says. Lee started the LGBTQ+ Facebook group in May, with the help of Baldwin Park couple, Rachel and Cortney Blank. Rachel and Cortney say they had first heard of the group in an emailed newsletter the HOA sent out. When they saw an LGTBQ+ group was being created, they knew they had to get involved. “When I saw ‘LGTBQ+,’ my ears perked up,” Rachel says. “We’ve made a lot of great friends here, but we never met anyone queer in the neighborhood. We were excited for the potential opportunity to meet Continued on page 30
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BALDWIN PARK LIVING | NOVEMBER 2021
Annabelle Sikes
Rachel Blank, left, Byron Lee and Cortney Blank lead Baldwin Park’s LGTBQ+ group.
MAKING A CONNECTION The founders of Baldwin Park’s new LGBTQ+ group want to help connect likeminded people for support and interaction.
