LGBT happy hour welcomes ‘out, closeted and questioning’ Capitol Hill staff

The two congressional staff associations for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staffers are hosting a happy hour this Thursday, which according to organizers is designed to allow openly gay staffers to mingle with closeted and/or questioning staffers.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Congressional Staff Association (LGBT CSA), which represents LGBT House staffers, and its Senate counterpart, GLASS, the Gay and Lesbian Association of Senate Staff, will jointly host the event on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Top of the Hill bar above the Pour House.

Part of National Coming Out Day, which is Oct. 11, LGBT CSA communications director Kat Skiles told ITK that the event’s mission is “to provide a space for people to be themselves in a safe, open environment.”

Skiles noted, “Capitol Hill can be a particularly difficult place for people to come out in, so we want anyone who is considering coming out to know that we’re here, and that there’s a group of people who understand some of these challenges firsthand.”

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