New App Groove Shares LGBTQ+ Events And Spaces

A new app is helping to get people offline and into real life. Groove, which launched this summer, is creating a new space to share and book LGBTQ+ events in New York City, to fill New Yorkers' social calendars far beyond scrolling. Users can find parties, join surf groups, attend book clubs, play card games at a burger joint and more, all listed in an app comparable to Eventbrite, but everything is by and for the LGBTQ+ community.

Co-founder Abbey Killheffer thought of the idea in 2023, when a new lesbian bar postponed its opening party due a delay in the liquor license. Knowing how too many love a last minute reason to cancel plans and stay home, Killheffer turned to their phone to find alternative queer dance parties to suggest. There was no easy way to find them. "That's when I knew I had to make the app," Killheffer says. "I didn't know how, but my mind was made up that it needed to be a thing."

There's an abundance of queer events and dozens of dedicated in the spaces, but the community generally discovers these offerings via social media and word of mouth (or sometimes, ye olde paper flier).

"You need to be following the right accounts or hope your algorithm suggests the thing you've been looking for," Killheffer says. "Newsletters are fantastic but again that ability to search for and save events you're interested in is lacking. It's not an interactive system and you still have to know about the newsletter to subscribe. Our community deserves an events app where LGBTQ+ is the default and then allows searching on a more granular level from there."

How Groove Works

Anyone 18 and older can download and join Groove for free.

Groove isn't curated like an editorial outlet or pay-for-play platform, but rather an open space for LGBTQ+ centered or owned events, community groups, and spaces to share their offerings. Event organizers create accounts, add their events, and can set up RSVPs or ticketing through Groove. Organizers can also add identity-specific filters to their events to if they're focused on POC, trans folks, WLW or other specific communities.

"We describe it as a queer-first event and community discovery app but it's an events management and ticketing app as much as it is event discovery," Killheffer says. "Groove is a tool. It's the infrastructure built to help queer people find their community. We are not policing or vetting any events that get listed, and that is intentional. The LGBTQ+ community is filled with diverse voices and diverse interests, and we want the app to reflect that."

Why LGBTQ+ Events Matter

Even in a city as populous and progressive as New York, finding dedicated queer events and safe spaces remains top of mind for people of various backgrounds and experiences.

"There is something that happens when you walk into a space that was meant for you," Killheffer says. I remember the first queer event I went to in NYC outside of Pride. I was invited to a launch party for a sapphic magazine, and when I got there my mind was blown. I could not believe what I was seeing or feeling. I was overcome with joy. I had never been in a space where I felt so understood, despite not knowing anyone. There was just this sense of belonging that I hadn't felt prior to that moment. LGBTQ+ folks deserve spaces where they can feel that freedom and safety, and they should not be hard to find."

This article was originally published on Forbes.com