SpeakOUT describes itself as "the nation's first LGBTQIA speakers bureau".
[1] Founded in Boston as a co-ed speakers' bureau in 1972 by men from the Boston Homophile Union and women from the Daughters of Bilitis, including Gay Community News founder David Peterson,[2] SpeakOUT continues to this day as a not-for-profit volunteer speakers bureau.
Approximately twice a year, they hold a weekend training for new speakers.
The organization is incorporated in Massachusetts as Public Educations Services, Inc., and their Doing-Business-As name has changed over the years.
In the 1990s, it was changed again to the Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Speakers' Bureau, and in the 2000s, it was shortened to "SpeakOUT".