We are equal.

We are precious.

We belong.

We are equal.

We are precious.

We belong.

About us

Who is Open Table?

We are the Open Table Network (OTN) – a growing partnership of communities across England & Wales which genuinely welcome and affirm people who are:

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, & Asexual (LGBTQIA) + our families, friends & anyone who wants to belong in an accepting, loving community.

We reach out in welcome to LGBTQIA+ people who need us and who are looking for us. We know that organised religion so often turns away from us. Faith groups can often be cold or hostile towards us, and this can leave us truly isolated; just at the very times when we need affirmation of love, worth and belonging.

A busy pride parade

Our communities

Meet your local community

People talk about the ‘LGBT community’ as if it was a big linked-up bunch of people who are all in touch with one another. But LGBTQIA+ people are no more part of one big, comforting community than a ‘straight community’ would be! LGBTQIA+ people are far more likely to suffer poor mental health as a result of not having a community. This is why OTN exists.

We currently support 37 communities across England & Wales. But there are many more asking to join us. You can search the map, read more about our communities, or contact us to find out how you might host an Open Table community.

We’re helping to create safer spaces where LGBTQIA+ people can find peace, acceptance and welcome. People who belong to an Open Table community say it improves their mental health, and gives them confidence and hope.

Our impact

The work we do is both national and personal. That seems like a bit of a contradiction – but it really isn’t!

Our blogs & news

Keep up to date with the latest

  • Beth getting ready for Pride, wearing glitter face paint and a rainbow striped tshirt.

    Beth: ‘the courage to be my authentic self’

    For me, Open Table has been like the good soil in a parable of the sower - I’ve not just found community, I’ve found somewhere I have been able to [...]

  • Suzanne at Chester Pride, August 2022

    Suzanne: ‘Accepted, respected and protected’

    We came to Open Table as allies, to express our support and love and respect. And we still come to do all of those things and more. I instinctively knew [...]

  • David (right) with Open Table Network Coordinator Kieran, meeting for the first time in person at the launch of the Open Table Fareham community in June 2022.

    David: ‘loved, accepted, welcomed and part of the family’

    I FINALLY got the courage to accept my sexuality and come out as gay while working as an NHS Covid-19 responder. After growing up in a Nigerian conservative Christian household, [...]

  • LEFT TO RIGHT: Warren from Open Table Liverpool, Lou, Lou’s cousin Zoe, and vicar Laura who baptised Lou.

    Lou: ‘I felt so at home that I thought nothing could be better’

    As I grew up in a fundamentalist religious sect, I was taught to be afraid of everything: myself, family, God, death, life. The Jehovah’s Witnesses taught me that the end [...]

  • An extract from Zoey’s poem

    Zoey: ‘Yes! You can do this!’

    I’ve been coming to Open Table since the end of 2015. I was attracted by the warm, welcoming community. As I came in, I could just feel and see the [...]

  • James and his husband Vin at Pride in Liverpool, July 2017

    James: ‘Not so much coming out, as coming in to a supportive church family’

    When I was a very young man I was aware of my attraction towards men, although I assumed it was a phase. In any case the possibility of being gay [...]

  • Gail today

    Gail: ‘Who I am needs no excuse’

    Sometimes it feels as if I am a creation of the Japanese art-form, kintsugi, where broken pottery is glued back together with gold, silver, or platinum. On the outside it [...]

  • Matt (right) with his wife Danielle & Bobby the dog.

    Matt: ‘My comfort place, where I feel very safe’

    I was brought up as a Jehovah’s Witness since the day I was born. I found the religion tough and strict. Some of the rules I was not happy about. [...]

  • The Open Table and St Bride’s group marching at Liverpool Pride in 2017

    Moon: ‘God created me. So God loved me. It was that simple’.

    This city may have two cathedrals on a street called ‘Hope’, but I never expected to find God in Liverpool. I don’t mean that Liverpool is Godless - far from [...]

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