I think it is great that you are starting a community based GLO. I did some reading on The Red Hat Society and they pretty much just decided to become a society and they established some pillars and such and look at them! Over 40,000 chapters!
I am a sister of Beta Sigma Phi, so I can't help but put a plug-in for us.
If you are concerned about some issues and would rather have the backing of numerous chapters around the world you can look into BSP (
www.betasigmaphi.org), if not I say go for it! Many wonderful GLO's have been started by strong woman who were not afraid of establishing something new.
As for people possibly jeering at you, once you get out there with community service and a positive image people may be more interested in your GLO and will most likely take you serious.
I wish you the best of luck!