Need to Know: OutSmart LGBTQ Helps You Date Safe During Pride

Days before the Orlando tragedy, the NYPD and the Stonewall Inn held a historic meeting in New York, bringing together LGBT leaders and elected officials to introduce Outsmart LGBTQ, a month-long awareness campaign for Pride season.

Outsmart LGBTQ provides guidelines tailored to the queer community to advocate responsible partying. The non-profit organization is setting up fun events, such as open-bar happy hours and karaoke nights (see below), to both educate and entertain the younger generation about the ways they can date safe, and stay proud all the way.

"We are rallying local businesses, organizations, and prominent members within the LGBTQ community to promote a personal safety campaign for the customers of the gay and lesbian nightlife establishments," says Chauntel Gerdes, co-leader of Project Envision, one of the social work groups involved in the campaign. "Our goal is to empower the LGBTQ community to create spaces free of oppression and violence."

The current facilitators (Stonewall Inn, Therapy, Henrietta Hudson, Project Envision, and the NYPD's Crime Prevention Division and Community Affairs Bureau - LGBT Outreach Unit) are committed to building a stronger, safer community by advocating three key concepts: Staying Alert, Traveling Smart, and Dating Safe.

The Outsmart campaign began in 2015, and was successfully implemented in Brooklyn following a rise in crimes related to nightlife and involving the millennial generation.

To find out more about Outsmart LGBTQ, get involved, and see a list of their upcoming events, check out their Facebook page.

Outsmart LGBTQ is hosting a karaoke night today Wednesday June 22nd at the Stonewall Inn. Details below: