Grayson County Pride is the only dedicated LGBTQ+ resource organization serving the rural Texoma region: Grayson and Fannin counties in Texas and Bryan County, Oklahoma, with growing reach into neighboring Cooke County.
We began in 2019, when a family went looking for a safe space for their transgender daughter and found that none existed. What started as one family’s search for belonging has grown into a trusted, all-volunteer movement for LGBTQ+ individuals, families, and allies across a region where affirming resources remain scarce.
In May 2025, we opened our first dedicated community home, the Lavender Lounge in Sherman, and we are now in our second year there. In our first full year with a space to call our own, we served more than 1,450 people, and that number is climbing as more of the Texoma region discovers us.
We are still young, still volunteer-powered, and growing fast, because the need in this region will not wait.
Grayson County Pride’s mission is to provide resources, services, and programs for the LGBTQ+ community through inclusion, respect, and celebration.
We exist to address the systemic lack of visibility, support, and access to inclusive resources for LGBTQ+ people, especially youth and those in rural and underserved communities. We work to combat social isolation, discrimination, and mental health disparities by creating safe, empowering spaces where every LGBTQ+ person feels seen, valued, and supported.
Grounded in our core values of inclusion, respect, and celebration, our five-pillar framework guides our work:
Increased access to affirming services mental health support, healthcare navigation, and safe spaces where people are welcomed as they are
Stronger community support systems networks of allies, caregivers, and partners across schools, healthcare, and the broader community
Reduction in mental health risks addressing the disproportionate isolation and mental health burdens facing LGBTQ+ people, especially youth
Sustained community engagement ongoing outreach, education, and events that build lasting connection and belonging
Mental health and wellness programming peer support, workshops, and gatherings for LGBTQ+ individuals, families, and the broader community
Our vision is a region where LGBTQ+ people of all ages can thrive authentically, safely, and with pride, empowered and engaged in a community that is theirs.
For LGBTQ+ people in rural Texoma, the nearest affirming support can be counties away, and stigma, discrimination, and isolation take a real toll. Nationally, LGBTQ+ adults are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression. In the most recent Trevor Project survey, nearly 4 in 10 LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered suicide in the past year, and half of those who wanted mental health care could not get it.
Across our three home counties, thousands of LGBTQ+ adults and youth live with few local resources and almost no affirming spaces. There are no known LGBTQ+ student alliances in our secondary schools, only a small number at the college level.
We are often the first line of defense. Last year, we advocated for a high school student who was removed from a play because of their gender identity, and helped ensure every affected student was reinstated. We have also walked beside families through unimaginable loss, a sober reminder of what the absence of support can cost.
Research is clear that even one supportive adult dramatically lowers a young person’s risk. That is what your gift builds: affirming spaces, accessible support, and a community of allies in the place that needs them most.
Your support helps us:
Keep the doors of the Lavender Lounge open as a safe, affirming place to gather
Sustain free programming like peer support, youth gatherings, and family education
Reach LGBTQ+ people in isolated rural areas who have nowhere else to turn
Build toward lasting capacity so this work continues for years to come
At Grayson County Pride, equity is not a side note to our mission. It is the heart of it.
We serve LGBTQ+ people in a rural region where stigma, limited services, and isolation are intensified at the intersections of race, identity, and geography. BIPOC individuals are not separate from our work but central to it, facing compounded barriers including racism, cultural isolation, and generational trauma alongside anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.
As our reach extends into Oklahoma, we are building relationships with Choctaw and Chickasaw communities so that our support reflects Indigenous perspectives and needs. Across everything we do, we center the people most often left out, especially LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth, by expanding access to affirming, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive care.
Grayson County Pride is not just responding to gaps in care. We are reimagining what safety, visibility, and belonging can look like for LGBTQ+ people in rural America.
Organization name
Grayson Pride
Causes
LGBTQIA
Operating Budget
Less than $100,000
Counties Served
Cooke, Fannin, Grayson
BIPOC Leadership
Board Chair
Address
1800 TEAGUE DR STE 304