In the world of iPhones and Facebook, one Norman group is personalizing activism by cultivating real-life connections.

The Norman Queer Alliance was founded by Joseph Bonnell in early 2009 with the first post on its Wordpress blog announcing, “We are a group of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans-people and straight folk that like to get together and potluck, talk about gender specification, homosexuality and [in] general just having fun.”

Since then, the alliance has created a space for queer, gender-queer and queer-friendly people to socialize, plan and discuss, alliance organizer Madeline Ambrose said. Simply having contact with a community is important, Ambrose said.

“To have that kind of community is a basic need,” Ambrose said. “You need a community, and you need like-minded people to have any kind of social status. The personal is political.”

Ambrose said meeting as a community is a type of activism.

“Being social and just being able to meet other people who are queer is actually political and is a kind of activism that I think Norman and Oklahoma needs,” she said.

Ambrose identifies as one of the alliance’s main organizers, although the group does not have an official hierarchal structure. She said she attended the first meeting, a gathering at the duck pond, in spring 2009.

“I got involved because I saw the first flier that said ‘Are you queer? Do you wanna meet other queers?’” Ambrose said. “I just knew immediately that I wanted to be involved because I had come to understand what queer meant, and I started identifying as queer, and I definitely wanted to meet other people who identified that way.”

Ambrose characterized the word queer as an umbrella term that can mean lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender but with more flexibility in the fluidity of sexuality and gender.

“It’s kind of up to interpretation for whoever claims that identity,” she said.

When Bonnell moved out of Norman, Ambrose took over his role as organizer of the alliance. She said her job consists of making sure the group stays active.

For the Norman Queer Alliance, that means having a monthly planning meeting at a coffee shop, putting out a quarterly magazine and putting on whatever events members want.

This past Halloween, the group hosted a party after a screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” In November, the alliance had its second annual Women’s and Queer Art Show at Sonder Music.

The group’s events mostly are centered around social interaction, Ambrose said.

“Making things kind of informal is really beneficial to how our group runs and beneficial to the members participating because we can basically do whatever we want,” Ambrose said. “You do what you can do, you come to things that you can.”

She described the planning meetings as unpredictable due to the informal structure of the group.

“There might be someone who’s really talkative and wants to talk, or maybe we just think of one hang-out thing to do that month because people are busy,” Ambrose said.

Diversity of membership is another unique facet of the alliance.

“There’s high schoolers and 70-year-old people who come,” Ambrose said. “There’s trans members and gender-queer members and lesbian and gay and people that I have no idea what they are because we don’t ask questions.”

Ambrose said the alliance’s independence from nonprofit groups and OU is important to the creation of its quarterly magazine, a product that Ambrose said is collectively created, designed and edited. It also is completely uncensored.

“I think it’s kind of clear when you look at our ‘zine and stuff,” Ambrose said.

“The people who are contributing a lot to our group have a different agenda of just wanting to be like, ‘Look at me, I’m queer; this is how I have sex, and we’re gonna fucking talk about it.’ In your face — I feel like that’s the majority of the group,” she said.

But not everybody likes what the alliance is about, she said.

“Some lesbian and gay people probably pick up our ‘zines and think we’re gross, and I’m comfortable taking that risk,” Ambrose said.

Jonathan Contreras is a member of the alliance who worked on the July 2010 edition of the magazine.

He said he appreciates the creative freedom the magazine provides him.

“I really like having an avenue to express myself,” Contreras said. “And the fact that the alliance is open to all members of the community, not just students, is important as well.”

Although the group is accepting and open of everyone, Ambrose said there are many opinions within it.

“We’re not all on the same page,” Ambrose said. “I think that’s also what makes it a cool group ... It’s really clear just from meetings that everyone kind of has different passions and different opinions about things, and we’re all open to that.”

In the months ahead, the alliance plans to hold a Women’s and Queer Performance Art Show showcasing musicians and poets from November’s event.

There will be a new magazine released in March.

Long term, Ambrose hopes to meet the needs of the Norman LGBT community.

“I just want us to provide support and continue to meet the needs of queer people in Norman and be open enough of a group to have people tell us what those needs are,” Ambrose said.

How to join: For more information about the Norman Queer Alliance, contact the group by e-mailing normanqueeralliance@gmail.com.