Ames is considered to be a welcoming community by members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, but those members also say there are many ways for Ames’ LGBT community to grow.

“Ames has had a history of businesses that have tried to make known that it’s going to be a welcoming place,” said Brad Freihoefer, coordinator of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Student Services Center.

For example, Charlie Yoke’s bar hosted a drag-themed show last year during the Maximum Ames Music Festival.

On campus, small community settings exists in student organizations like Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Ally Alliance or during special events like the Iowa Pride Conference.

The Student Services building also has a room dubbed The Center, which is “usually packed over the lunch hour” and is a “welcoming, safe spot to just hang out,” Freihoefer said.

These opportunities aren’t for everyone, however. For example, Emery Thanathiti, an ISU student and member of the LGBT community, said she doesn’t enjoy the Alliance.

When it comes to a consistent community setting, Thanathiti said “the only [group] standing out is the LGBTAA.”

Thanathiti said she met a lot of her friends in the LGBT community at the Alliance’s ice cream social, most of whom are not members.

Iowa State also has a Delta Lambda Phi colony and a recently started Gamma Rho Lambda chapter for members of the LGBT community who want a chance to go greek.

Freihoefer said each of the three years Iowa State hosted Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference, the largest student-run LGBT conference in the country, many businesses were very welcoming to all the visitors, be it through “a rainbow flag, or other declaration” that said everyone was welcome.

All of these events and the attitudes of the business owners in Ames serve as a testament to the overall accepting nature of the city, but “I would challenge that visibility within the community can always be helpful,” Freihoefer said.

Ames does not provide any place that is a social center specifically for the LGBT community outside of Iowa State, Freihoefer said. If people who live in Ames want to go to an LGBT bar, they have to drive 40 minutes to Des Moines.

Thanathiti said many of her friends do commute.

“I think we do some things well, but I think there is always room for growth,” Friehoefer said about the general atmosphere for the LGBT community in Ames.