The Freedom To Be Yourself

Dale Blagrove, DTM, embraced Toastmasters when he was introduced to it by an employer in the 2000s. As an active and enthusiastic member of a community club in midtown New York City, he spoke often and honestly, though not necessarily openly.

His speeches were littered with clues about his personal life, yet no one seemed to pick up on them. “A good buddy had no idea that I was gay. He just assumed when I was talking about my partner, I was talking about my business partner,” Blagrove explains.

Sensing that the timing and demand was ripe for a truly inclusive club in New York City, Blagrove chartered Pride Toastmasters in 2009. Today it is one of about a dozen Toastmasters clubs globally centered around lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ+) individuals and their allies. Pride Toastmasters was the first such club in New York. One of the newest clubs just chartered in March 2025—Queer Voices Toastmasters Club in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The clubs go by a variety of names—often including the words “Rainbow” and “Pride”—and they exemplify Toastmasters International’s mission to provide support and respect to speakers and leaders. (Rainbows, with their diverse colors, are a popular symbol for the LGBTQ+ community.)

Where pizzazz was once prized in public speaking, authenticity now reigns. Leaders of LGBTQ+ clubs say they consider this a gift to both the speaker and the audience, who are able to shed the daily armor they say is required to live life as an outsider. You don’t have to read the room to assess if you need to “come out again,” Blagrove says, nor do you need to invent creative explanations for a relationship or replace names or pronouns.

“When I’m in an environment that I know is a safe place—absolutely 100% safe for me—I can focus in on my communication skills and not waste that energy on wondering, ‘What are they going to think? Can I say it that way? Are they going to judge that? Are there going to be raised eyebrows?’” says Seldon Short, President of Leadership Lambda Toastmasters Club in Dallas, Texas, believed to be the oldest LGBTQ+ club in Toastmasters. “I can really gain that sense of confidence … to become a better leader and a better communicator and not worry about, ‘Oh, am I going to be judged because of who I am?’”

Joining Together

Toastmasters International, which only began allowing women in 1973, has no rules against clubs forming around shared or special interests so long as there are no prohibitions against others joining based on criteria including gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation, according to the Toastmasters International Club Constitution. Leaders of LGBTQ+ clubs say they welcome friends, family, and anyone supportive of their mission.

In these clubs, traditions range from the sweet to the serious. Rainbow Toastmasters in San Francisco awards members a string of “Mardi Gras” beads after their Ice Breaker speech and presents a rainbow ribbon at each meeting to a member who goes “beyond the call of duty.” At Tokyo Rainbow Toastmasters Club in Japan, members take turns sharing a “rainbow moment” from their week.

The members celebrate their daily triumphs in Japan, which has no legal protections for gay marriage. “As the fight for same-sex marriage continues, I’ve noticed that there is more sharing about same-sex couples holding hands, going on trips together—living their lives with joy!” notes Tokyo Rainbow Vice President Public Relations CJ Hostetter.

Several of the Tokyo club members are active in local organizations serving members of their community, and Toastmasters has helped them create stronger bonds with each other in addition to more persuasive presentations, says Hostetter.

As identity becomes more politicized and polarized in many countries, having a powerful voice is becoming more critical. “I think a lot of people are going to find themselves being called upon to stand up and speak out about what they believe,” Short says. “And we feel like Toastmasters has a really vital role in helping educate people to be stronger communicators in this period.”

Yet politics isn’t a typical topic, despite the tenuousness of legal protections for members. Most speeches are general in scope, says Nancy Bateman, DTM, Leadership Lambda Toastmasters Club’s Vice President Education. “They’re about life’s journey and the silly things everybody has to deal with and the goofy people we encounter and the problems we overcome. Just like every other club.”

History in the Heart of Texas

Leadership Lambda formed with 38 charter members in June 1997—fittingly, since June is Pride Month, which celebrates support of the LGBTQ+ community. The club formed as part of a professional development initiative for prominent and emerging gay leaders in Dallas during a period of increasing visibility in politics, nonprofits, and businesses there.

Levi Richardson (left) and Scott Jordan, members of Leadership Lambda Toastmasters Club in Dallas, Texas

Today, other than rainbow flags in their meeting room and on their club banner, unless someone is familiar with the historical association with the Greek Lambda symbol and gay rights, there is no overt reference to the LGBTQ+ community. The club adapted its own Leadership Lambda Promise from the Toastmaster’s Promise, including a pledge to celebrate diversity by welcoming all potential members, regardless of identity.

“We don’t ask people [about their sexual identity]. People reveal themselves,” says Scott Jordan, a Past Club President. The club’s officers think roughly half the club considers itself part of the greater LGBTQ+ community, or the “family,” as it is colloquially known. The other half are allies.

Officers have many stories of members who speak emotionally about their experiences of coming out of the closet or accepting their identities. And being able to speak about it in a welcoming audience, some of whom have shared in the same experience, is that much more powerful and affirming.

The club prides itself on its “radical inclusion.” And, based on the guest feedback they request at the end of each meeting, it is working. Responses strike a common theme: The club is positive, friendly, and welcoming. “They say, ‘I think this is going to be a great place for me,’” says Club President Short.

“It’s not just a story from people who I’ve later come to identify as being a straight ally. We’ve heard that from people who identify as trans, we’ve heard that from people who identify as gay or lesbian,” he adds. “It just seems to be a universal desire to belong and want to be a part of a warm, embracing community where they can be themselves—no matter how they identify.”

The club is open to changing norms and recently decided to start including members’ preferred pronouns on their name tags.

Stronger Than Ever

Perhaps there is no better endorsement for the universality of acceptance than the member who pulled VPE Bateman aside for a private word several months after joining Leadership Lambda.

“Is this an LGBTQ club?” he asked. Bateman braced herself for what he might say after she happily confirmed his suspicions.

His response? “That’s awesome.” Though he admitted to being a little surprised, he has since become one of the club’s star members and contest speakers.

“He just knew a good club when he saw it,” Jordan says with a laugh. 

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