By Lesley Goldberg

Regina Lark is like a lot of lesbians: she won’t make the first move when it comes to meeting a woman and asking her out on a date. And Lark, the founder and CEO of QueerQuickDates, is quick to point out that it isn’t because she’s shy.

“I am the kind of feminist who won’t ‘invade’ someone’s personal space — you have to invite me in,” she says. “I guess this means that I won’t make the first move. Not because I’m shy, but I don’t want to be overbearing, or make someone uncomfortable.”

Which is why Lark began looking for something more. Something beyond the bars, clubs and dating Web sites. She founded QueerQuickDates in October 2009 to create a space where people just like her could experience face-to-face dating — speed dating.

For a less than the price of two Abbey martinis, speed daters have the opportunity to go on 19 dates in two hours.

“Speed dating is so much more personal and intentional than match sites and bars,” she says. “People who attend speed dating events are there because they are single and available to meet new people. They want something more than a blurb they read on a Web site.”

After paying a $20 registration fee, speed daters are equipped with numbered nametags, and a “Match” sheet and begin a series of four-minute dates with everyone in the room. Each event, which is capped at 20 participants, also comes with appetizers or dessert and features a no-host bar, and as Lark says, “More dates than you have ever had in one night.”

Once the night is over, each speed dater receives an e-mail within 24 hours informing them of their love matches — and friend matches.

“A lot of people tell me they have taken their profiles off of the online match sites because speed dating is more fun and interactive,” she says. “And because they keep having bad experiences with the online dating scene because when they finally meet someone face-to-face, they look nothing like their picture on the dating site.”

Lark hosts a variety of speed dating events, initially starting out with gay men and lesbian events running concurrently at locations including Maria’s Italian Kitchen restaurants in Downtown L.A., Encino and West L.A., and has recently evolved to lesbian-only events at lesbian/gay-owned or gay-friendly locations around the Southland including Costa Mesa, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Oxnard and West Hollywood.

Each event is organized via age group — ages 21-35; 35-45; and 45 and older— and Lark plans to expand those after the New Year — “to broaden the horizons,” she says — and also plans to feature dating events by income level.

“I’ve been asked to host … VIP events for speed daters in the upper income levels,” Lark says. “High wage earners who can afford to eat at four-star restaurants and travel the world want to meet people at a similar income level.”

As for Lark, she worries less about dating: “I’m too busy to date … I do believe, however, that Ms. Wonderful will one day walk through the doors of Q2D and the rest, as they say, will be ‘her story’!”

For more information and Q2D events, go to www.q2dspeeddating.com