Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

Qommunity: Social Network for LGBTQ Community Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary
  • USA - English


News provided by

QOMMUNITY, LLC

Nov 09, 2016, 03:00 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX


Qommunity has members on every continent, except Antartica, including in countries where being gay is a crime.

Post this

LANESBOROUGH, Mass (PRWEB) November 09, 2016 -- Fourteen months ago in a drafty farmhouse a few miles north of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Sage and Curry Kalmus, two gay men married for what would then be almost 9 years had a realization. They realized their friends were making a virtual exodus from Facebook, complaining of feeling disempowered, disenfranchised, and disenchanted by it. Many in the LGBTQ community, they found, are feeling underrepresented or not represented at all by the prevailing social networks. Some lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, in fact, are even outright bullied and threatened on many of these sites, teens especially, to the point where LGBTQ teens are citing these kinds of incidents in their suicide notes.

The husband-and-husband duo assumed some other social network for the LGBTQ community must exist, somewhere supportive, that kept out bullies and anti-gay rhetoric, but all they could find were dating and sex sites segregated by gender and sexuality, and local business and event-based sites. No inclusive social network for the diversity of people who comprise the LGBTQ community.

The Kalmuses were shocked by this, but also inspired. Despite neither one having much technical knowledge or experience, they did have years of experience between them in holding safe and supportive space for people to explore and express who they are. So two months after their realization, on November 9, 2015, Qommunity: The Queer Social Network was launched as a free-membership website for the LGBTQ community and its straight allies at qommunity.org.

One year later, Qommunity is also available as free apps for Apple and Android devices. Today, Qommunity boasts members on every continent, except Antartica, including in countries where being gay is a crime, like Iran, Syria, and Bangladesh. Qommunity's nearly 600 members range in age from 13 to 73 and span the gamut of gender-identities and sexual-orientations in the LGBTQ community (including hundreds of straight allies). Between the membership site and the public-facing, non-membership portion of the site has garnered nearly 3 million page-views.

Among Qommunity's proudest moments in its first year:

  • A 64-year old grandmother came out to herself first, and then her friends and family with members' support
  • A former biker whose gang rejected him for being supportive of the LGBTQ community came out as bisexual and got a job at a gay club
  • Sage & Curry have been invited to speak this December to the students at Harvey Milk High School in Manhattan, New York on behalf of Qommunity

“Qommunity has done so much for me and my family,” says Amy Piccirillo, bisexual mother of two, who now home-schools her boys with other parents and teens using Qonnect, Qommunity's audio/video chat, streaming, and collaboration features.

Many Qommunity members visit several times daily to check-in with friends, make new friends, post photos and videos, Like and Share other people's posts, and more. Qommunity members can also create pages, post and join events, and create and join groups. There's even a second free app called Qonnectr containing all of Qonnect's text/audio/video chat, conferencing, broadcasting, and collaboration features, where some members stay logged in to chat all day.

One key to what makes Qommunity so special is that all members agree, on signing up, to a Member Safety Agreement of:

1) No Bullying or Harassment
2) No Illegal Activity
3) No Pornography

This helps to create an atmosphere of mutual acceptance and respect. “Qommunity is not a free-for-all like other social networks,” says Sage. “It's more like a private club. Everyone is welcome, but there are bouncers.”

What's in store for Qommunity in the year ahead? “Well, year one was all about building Qommunity,” says Sage. “Year two will be about getting it out there, making it an increasingly meaningful part of more people's lives.”

“Qommunity with a Q can only exist with community with a C,” Curry throws in.

Fore more info visit: qommunity.org/about
Or sign up at: qommunity.org

Sage Kalmus, QOMMUNITY, LLC, https://qommunity.org, +1 4133678337, [email protected]

Modal title

Husbands & Qommunity Co-founders Curry & Sage Kalmus
Husbands & Qommunity Co-founders Curry & Sage Kalmus
Q cake baked by Qommunity member for its 1-year anniversary
Q cake baked by Qommunity member for its 1-year anniversary
Qommunity.org homepage
Qommunity.org homepage
Husbands & Qommunity Co-founders Curry & Sage Kalmus Q cake baked by Qommunity member for its 1-year anniversary Qommunity.org homepage

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.