Welcome to the First Friday Breakfast Club!

The First Friday Breakfast Club (FFBC) is an educational group for gay, bisexual and transgender men. We gather monthly in Des Moines for breakfast, fellowship and a speaker. We provide a safe and supportive environment for all members and guests.

As Iowa’s largest breakfast club, we are active, dynamic and engaging. We educate ourselves on LGBTQ issues. We work to reduce prejudice and discrimination. Throughout the year, we raise scholarship funds for students who fight homophobia. We offer guidance to those who need help in the coming out process. And we provide opinion leaders and the community with positive images of LGBTQ people.

Please visit our website www.ffbciowa.org where we have our upcoming speakers and archive of prior speaker recordings as well as newsletters.  
 
You now have the ability to make one-time or recurring donations to support the scholarship program!

Click HERE to donate to the scholarship fund.  

The August 2022 newsletter is now available HERE.

Twelve outstanding graduating high school seniors were awarded scholarships at an awards ceremony on June 3, 2022.  See more about these outstanding young adults on the Scholars page.  

Upcoming Speakers

 
September 2, 2022:  Congresswoman Cindy Axne, Representing the 3rd District of Iowa.
 
October 7, 2022:  Dana Cardin, former KCCI Assistant News Director, retired at the end of 2021.  He devoted four decades to serving Central Iowans after first serving his country in the Navy. He started here as a reporter where he literally traveled the globe sharing stories that impacted Iowans. Some of his most memorable were from his feature segment called “Eye on Iowa”. Dana’s trademark writing and reporting skills shaped compelling stories. Over the last 25 years, he’s used his skills to shape the next generation of journalists as our Assistant News Director. Over the course of his career here, Dana had his hand in numerous journalism awards including a recent Edward R. Murrow award.
 
November 4, 2022:   Mike Franken who won the Democratic nomination (June 7) to run as the Democratic candidate for US Senator.
 
December 2, 2022:  Reverend Rushing Kimball, the  Associate Pastor at Des Moines’s Plymouth Congregational Church (United Church of Christ).
 
January 6, 2023:   Matt Sinovic is executive director of Progress Iowa which is a statewide organization focused on research, education and advocacy.
 
March 3, 2023:  Mark Stringer, Executive Director of The American Civil Liberties Union and former Iowa Supreme Court Justice.  The ACLU works within communities across the state to defend the civil rights and civil liberties of all Iowans through litigation, education, and community engagement.
 
April 7, 2023:   Frank Marasco from the Polk County Sheriff’s office.
 

FFBC members enjoy breakfast and a speaker during the monthly gatherings. Breakfast begins promptly at 7:00 am. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are at the Hoyt Sherman Place.

Hoyt Sherman Place (website) 
1501 Woodland Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50309

To view past speakers (and listen to remarks from select speakers), click here or on the PAST SPEAKERS link at the top of the page.

Speaker Recommendations:  If you have a recommendation for a speaker for a future First Friday Breakfast Club meeting please email to info@ffbciowa.org, providing information about the potential speaker, and contact information for them.  Your contact information would be appreciated as well. 

Items of interest

 

From LGBTQNATION:  Moderna officially begins Phase 1 trial of experimental HIV vaccine

[Extract] Moderna – the biotechnology company responsible for one of the COVID-19 vaccines – has announced that the first participant in its phase 1 trial of its experimental in HIV vaccine has been given a dose.

The new vaccine uses the same groundbreaking mRNA technology that both Moderna and Pfizer utilized to create their COVID-19 vaccines.

To read the article in full, go to LGBTQNATION.

2020-2021 Scholarship Presentation

July 2, 2021, was the 2020-2021 scholarship awards presentation.  Scholarship were awarded to nine outstanding students:  Moira Blue, Allissa Cox, Leah Kaminsky, Keon Kruse, Maverick Meimann, Emmaline Mitchell, Greyson Pullen, Michael Rosenberg, and Lennon Schriever. See more about each scholar on the Scholars page.

The Trevor Project National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2021

The past year has been incredibly difficult for so many, but we also know that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth have faced unique challenges. The Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health sheds light on many of these challenges by capturing the experiences of nearly 35,000 LGBTQ youth ages 13–24 across the United States.