Discover Your Pride
30 days of health, activism, culture and education
30 days of health, activism, culture and education
Our Pride goes back to 1969, when a small group of volunteers made a commitment to change the world. What began as a hope-filled vision, evolved into the largest and oldest LGBTQ organization ever seen. The Los Angeles LGBT Center has proudly provided more services and programs for LGBTQ people than any other organization in the world. The Center, fielding more than 50,000 client visits per month, is broadly committed to social justice, and has led the fight for the most vulnerable within our diverse LGBTQ community. Shining as a beacon locally, nationally, and internationally, the Center is an unstoppable force in the fight against bigotry and the struggle to build a world where all LGBTQ people can be healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Your support brings this vision of Pride to life.
Back to Grid
For over 28 years, we’ve focused on ending HIV/AIDS, riding bikes from SF to LA to raise awareness and funds for our mission. Because HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic that affects us all, we’ve created TogetheRide, a nationwide movement committed to ending AIDS by harnessing the collective power of our community.
Through this commitment, we are raising $5 million to support San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. And to honor the 1.2 million people in the U.S. living with AIDS, we're moving 1.2 million miles, together. Your Pride is bringing people of all ages from around the world moving with purpose.
We celebrated the grand opening of our new Michaeljohn Horne and Thomas Eugene Jones Youth Housing in April 2021. Located across the street from our Anita May Rosenstein Campus, this nearly 13,000 square-foot, four-story structure includes supportive housing apartments and wraparound services for youth ages 24 and under who are jumpstarting the next chapter of their lives. We know that overcoming the challenges of homelessness and discrimination requires a stable, welcoming environment with access to critical programs and essentials under the same roof. Our incoming youth residents are thriving in their new apartments with the support of friends like you.
“I feel like I have had to be strong for myself. Just being able to have my own place, it’s like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Now, I’m looking forward to the best possible things that can happen.” - Kay
Show our youth how proud you are of their resilience with a gift today. Your generosity will help provide LGBTQ young people with the compassion and encouragement they deserve on their new journey.
At the Center, Pride means impact. Mobilize your friends to join you in supporting the advocacy, care, and empowerment the Center provides for the LGBTQ community. We invite you to put your Pride in action by setting your own personal fundraising goal for the month of June. We’re keeping it easy. Use our shareables. Create a personal Facebook fundraiser. Raise critically needed funds with a few simple clicks. Join your Center community in elevating our life-saving services and programs. Whether you raise $50 or $5,000, your ambassadorship will make is proud and change more lives.
By the numbers:
Over 30,000 visits from at-risk LGBTQ youth
Healthcare to over 16,000 LGBTQ people including telehealth visits
Over 5,000 conversations with LGBTQ seniors isolated by the pandemic
Weekly distribution of over 2,700 fresh boxes of groceries across 3 Center Sites
Innovations in providing safety, stability, and a welcoming connection for the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community have been driven to new heights thanks to the support of friends like you. The Center knows how to reinvent itself because we believe Pride is defined by our commitment to progress no matter the barriers. Remember, you can deepen your impact with a gift this month to show your Pride.
Pride means honoring our trailblazers. LGBTQ seniors have made many of the freedoms we enjoy today possible. Despite their bravery, LGBTQ seniors are amongst our most vulnerable community members. Financial and housing instability continue to be common challenges for many of our seniors and the Center continues to rise to the challenge. We are proud to celebrate the forthcoming opening of the Ariadne Getty Foundation’s Senior Housing complex nestled within the Anita May Rosenstein Campus. This 98-unit facility will provide supportive housing for LGBTQ seniors who will most benefit from the Center’s services including those experiencing chronic homelessness.
“What is really great about this is that the housing complex is literally sharing a wall with the Center’s Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Senior Center. You can walk out the front door and have access to our suite of senior services. That is incredibly unique.” – Tripp Mills, Associate Director Housing and Training, Senior Services
As we celebrate living our authentic lives this June, show our seniors how proud you are of their contributions with a gift today. Your generosity will help welcome our incoming residents into their new home.
Pride means connection at the Center. LGBTQ seniors are more likely to live alone and not have family support. Our Center community found a practical way to uplift our seniors despite social distancing restrictions in the Hello Club. To-date, Hello Club volunteers have had well over 5,000 conversations with LGBTQ senior members providing a lifeline to Center services, essentials, and a warm connection.
"I don’t have family. My friends are my family, and they do check with me. But a fresh voice and a connection with the Center are real important to me. The phone calls I’ve gotten have been really sweet, and they really do brighten my day.” - Susan Phelan, Senior Services Member
The Hello Club has evolved into a social support program with several hundred LGBTQ seniors receiving bi-weekly calls from a volunteer to chat and reaffirm that the Center is here as family. Your support helps make this possible. We hope you’re proud.
Proudly serving you a new kind of liberation. The Center’s Liberation Coffee House located on the corner of McCadden Place and Santa Monica Boulevard on the Anita may Rosenstein Campus is open and ready for you. This 1,600 square-foot, welcoming community space is a new social enterprise providing employment opportunities for Center clients graduating from our Culinary Arts program. Center culinary program graduates are serving locally roasted, artisan pastries, and hand-crafted menu items hailing from our own students. We look forward to hosting community gatherings in this beautiful space as we continue to elevate the spirit of Pride year-round.
The heart and soul of this incredible social enterprise connects LGBTQ seniors and youth to work together in creating delicious food and drink for our entire community. We invite everyone to come and enjoy a taste of Liberation! – CEO Lorri L. Jean
Liberation has never tasted better. Visit the only coffee house in Los Angeles directly supporting the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community.
The Village at Ed Gould Plaza proudly houses the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center. With responsibility for two theatres and two gallery spaces, the Tomlin/Wagner Center has grown to become a leading Los Angeles-area presenter of performance and visual arts. Since 1998, the artistic work created and produced by Tomlin/Wagner has helped transform the perception of LGBTQ culture. Performance and visual arts create powerful, sometimes controversial dialog that brings together all people, regardless of race, age, sexuality, or gender. Whether presenting established artists or developing innovative and experimental works, its productions and exhibits illuminate the trials, triumphs, and truths of life. The Center finds Pride in boldly telling our stories triumph.
At the Center, Pride means creating new opportunities. The Trans Wellness Center has been bringing together services and resources for transgender and gender non-conforming people under one roof since April 2018. The community-based effort is a partnership between six local organizations Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team, Bienstar, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Friends Community Center and TransLatin Coalition, with the Los Angeles LGBT Center as the lead agency coordinating management and operations. Programming is shaped by the self-advocacy of clients and staffed by trans and non-binary individuals knowing comfort is found in representation. TWC’s services are guided by an eight-member Community Advisory Board made up of people who identify as trans or non-binary. The board works together to ensure TWC truly reflects what the community needs.
I don’t think in the United States there’s a center like this one where it’s managed and operated by professional trans individuals who are going to provide services for trans people like me. This is another advancement in our community. This defines who we are. We’re resilient and we’re strong and we know how to work together. – Kery Ramirez, TWC Community Advisory Board Member
TWC has inspired international excitement and is resourcing trans community members both in Los Angeles and beyond with employment assistance, social support, healthcare and much more. Your support helps the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ move more proudly through life.
Starting in May 2020, the Pride Pantry has provided more than 2,700 food insecure LGBTQ community members with fresh produce, pantry staples and essentials each week. Food insecurity has always disproportionately impacted the LGBTQ community. The Center has always provided robust food services prior to the pandemic however these inequities have worsened over the last year. This first-of-its kind operation is housed in the Center’s landmark Pride Hall within our Anita May Rosenstein Campus with distributions also taking place at Center South in South Los Angeles and Mi Centro in Boyle Heights. Our Campus has brought community together in ways not previously imagined reinvigorating the spirit of Pride amidst an otherwise dark time.
I didn’t know how I was going to make ends meet. It was always hard but became impossible this year. I was choosing between paying my rent or paying for food. I was ashamed and completely overwhelmed by the thought that I had to go it alone. The Center called me, consoled me, and delivered groceries right away. I’m now connecting with them every week. – Sonia, Pride Pantry client.
Your support helps connects community no matter the challenge. A gift today will help LGBTQ people of all ages overcome adversity with Pride.
Meeting community where they are. In 2015, the Los Angeles LGBT Center partnered with the Latino Equality Alliance to open its first facility on the eastside of Los Angeles to better serve LGBTQ people and their families who live on the eastside of Los Angeles. Mi Centro, just east of the Los Angeles River in Boyle Heights, offers culturally adapted, community-informed bilingual services operated by the Center and LEA including legal and immigration services, family counselling and empowerment programs, LGBTQ youth and senior programming, transgender support and housing resources. Here clients also connect with the Center’s wider suite of services including our Pride Pantry.
When you come out in this community, it has to do more with the entire family. It includes the aunts, the uncles, the grandmas, the grandpas. Everyone’s involved, and everybody comes to meetings because they want to learn, they want to evolve. Mi Centro is really the only place they can get these kinds of resources and support in Spanish. – Cain Andrade, Center Social Networking Coordinator
We believe Pride belongs to everyone. Part of our mission is to eradicate cultural and geographical barriers in partnership with our diverse Los Angeles communities. Your support build bridges where none previously existed.
For LGBTQ people. By LGBTQ people. The Los Angeles LGBT Center is one of the few Federally Qualified Health Centers with providers who specialize in primary care for LGBTQ people and people living with HIV. Housed at our McDonald/Wright location in the heart of Hollywood, our services are free or low cost ranging from primary care, sexual health and prevention services, mental health and addiction recovery. You might also be proud to know that the Center operates a research program focused on advancing knowledge about HIV prevention, intervention, and treatment ensuring that our expertise is making the deepest impact possible. Our pharmacy, often the source of HIV medications and hormone therapies not easily accessible elsewhere.
Our pharmacy specializes in health care of the LGBTQ community. We carry the right drugs for our community and can talk to them about their meds and treatment in ways that a regular pharmacy wouldn’t think of. – Nicole Thibeau, Pharmacy Director
Services have expanded to include telehealth visits, free prescription deliveries and vaccine distribution for clients and the staff who protect them over the last year. Take Pride in knowing that your support is creating spaces where patients can talk candidly with healthcare providers knowing they’ll receive leading-edge care no matter the challenge.
Sexual health for everyone. Center WeHo has provided more than 40,000 HIV tests, treated more than 9,000 clients for a sexually transmitted infection, and conducted more than 3,800 consultations for PrEP since it’s opening six years ago. Playing a critical role in LGBTQ HIV prevention and treatment, Center WeHo typically connects about 100 clients with judgement-free counselling, testing, PrEP medications, face-to-face pharmacy consultations, and more. As with most of our services, we commonly see clients who don’t know where else to go. While client interactions were reduced for social distancing, WeHo has continued to operate throughout pandemic ensuring the continuation of our impact where it's most needed.
One guy was in in his-30s, and everything was going wrong for him. Someone told him we could help. He had a lot of issues with drugs and STDS, health problems he didn’t even know about, and he was hungry. – Chris Reyes, Venter WeHo Health Educator
We’re proud to be a stigma-free refuge where LGBTQ community members can feel comfortable discussing how to take charge of their sexual health. Take Pride in knowing your support is playing a central role in reducing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and building a safer, healthier community.
The Center has proudly hosted one of the nation’s oldest and largest celebrations of the Trans, Gender Non-Conforming, Intersex, Non-Binary community for going on 22 years —Trans Pride L.A. Breaking barriers as an inclusive space dedicated explicitly to our trans and gender non-conforming community members, this three day event is filled with panel discussions, workshops, special performances and direct connections with Center services and programs. For years Trans Pride has functioned as a block party with the added benefit of intentional programming crafted to resource and uplift some of our most vulnerable LGBTQ community members.
Trans Pride L.A. has always felt like an annual family reunion—and we want to make that reunion happen. The strength and resilience of our TGI/ENBY+ community in the face of the ongoing pandemic, the continued violence against us, and the transphobic legislation being enacted nationwide—these things only strengthen our commitment to provide a platform to celebrate our true selves. – Gina Bighman, Trans Pride L.A. organizer; Manager, Trans Lounge & Education empowerment Programs
Trans Pride is livestreaming for the second year in a row, strengthening spirits despite Pride feeling different again this year. Liberation exists where community can find one another. Take Pride in knowing that your support ensures that our trans and non-binary community members always have a space to be their authentic selves and thrive.
We find Pride in empowering the next generation of LGBTQ heroes. Models of Pride is the world’s largest FREE conference for LGBTQ youth and allies 12 – 24, and the parents and professionals in their lives. The conference, organized by the Center’s Youth Development program, offers dozens of life-enriching workshops and presentations designed to help young people build confidence and develop the life skills they need to thrive beyond stereotypes. Workshop topics range from student activism, religion, relationships, gender expression, bullying, financial literacy, sex education, and more.
I think teenagers of today are magical and smarter than all of us—they are my superheroes. They just are incredibly empathetic, thoughtful, and sensitive, and the world is putting a lot on them. We are giving them a forum, giving them space to talk about what is important to them and who they want to be. – Ash Nichols, MOP Workshop Presenter
You can’t be what you can’t see. Models of Pride is a rare, identity-affirming space where LGBTQ young people can directly connect with peers and adults alike committed to living authentic, healthy, service-minded lives. Our mission involves creating the esteem-boosting opportunities many of us could only dream of as teenagers. Take Pride in knowing that your support is making those dreams possible for generations coming into their own.
Whether it’s a phonebank, a letter writing effort, or marching in the streets, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Resistance Squad has repeatedly been called to put its Pride in action since 2017. The volunteer-based rapid response team was launched in the months after the 2016 presidential election when nerves were raw and spirits low. Since then, more than 800 volunteers have participated in the Squad’s various actions and activities to protect LGBTQ equality on issues related to immigration, health care, education, foster care, get out the vote efforts, policing, and the Equality Act.
When have started doing proactive letter writing campaigns to state legislators around the work we’re doing, it’s been incredible to be able to engage in policy work that directly impacts our clients. We had young people come downstairs from our Youth Center and write letters to their elected officials that said, ‘I need these things, I need these services. I need these programs to survive and thrive and live a healthy, equal, and complete life. – Joey Hernandez, Director of Advocacy and Mobilization Public Policy
The Resistance Squad plays a central role in bending the arch of justice towards LGBTQ equality and empowers LGBTQ people to take direct action to protect our community. Take Pride in knowing your support is moving the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community closer to true liberation.
The holidays can be a lonely time for many within the LGBTQ community who have lost their familial support. This is especially true for our LGBTQ seniors already struggling with isolation and food insecurity who were hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The Center takes Pride in filling those gaps. This past November, the Culinary Arts and Senior Services programs collaborated with over 100 volunteers to deliver Thanksgiving meals to 500 LGBTQ seniors. Meals were homemade by our Culinary Arts students on site at our Anita May Rosenstein Campus, and packaged and delivered by an army of volunteers who wanted to help provide much needed happiness and warmth.
I just love seeing the seniors’ faces when I show up with deliveries—seeing how thankful and grateful they are. It’s always such an honor to go out and help these seniors. I’m thankful I can be a part of the safety net – especially during the holidays. – Chris Lutz, Center Volunteer
This first-time initiative ensured that our community, despite the distance, once again connected with those most in need. Take Pride in knowing you’re delivering comfort as a Center supporter.
We recognize that movements for liberation are intersectional and the fight for freedom is both far from over and more challenging for some of us. The Center recognizes the achievements of Black LGBTQ leaders who have stood on multiple frontlines in the movement for full equality. Bayard Rustin is one such individual who the Center is proud to honor. Rustin was a top advisor to Martin Luther King Jr. and was the organizing genius behind the 1963 March on Washington where King delivered his historic I Have a Dream speech. Rustin, who was openly gay at a time when it was illegal and potential damaging to the Black civil rights movement, also served as an advisor to American labor unionist and continued his activism for civil equality for Black and LGBTQ people including HIV awareness until is twilight years in 1987.
It was an absolute necessity for me to declare homosexuality, because if I didn’t, I was a part of the prejudice. I was aiding and abetting the prejudice that was a part of the effort to destroy me. – Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights Leaders
While Rustin was forced to live in the shadow of the civil rights movement due to his refusal to renounce his gay identity, the Center is dedicated to ensuring his legacy lives on in grandeur. Take Pride in knowing that your support ensures our movement’s history is not forgotten.
Pride always finds a way. Throughout the pandemic, the Center's team of more than 300 Health Services staff—including doctors, nurses, medical assistants, lab and pharmacy technicians, clinic liaisons, and pharmacists—stayed on the frontlines to serve our clients, including those in our HIV, women's health, and transgender care programs. Hundreds more Center staff members within facilities and security, and those providing critical essentials, hunger relief, housing, legal assistance and more too remained on-site ensuring our LGBTQ community received the care they needed and deserved.
We’re the best poised to reach into communities that have been disadvantaged, are suspicious about the vaccine’s efficacy, are worried about discrimination, that don’t want to show up at a vaccine place where nobody looks like them. — Dr. Robert Bolan, Chief medical Officer
Amongst the first recipients of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, our frontline workers extended their leadership as service-providers to vaccine advocacy for the LGBTQ community. Take Pride in knowing that the advancement of safety and heroism is made possible by your support.
Where we’re needed most. In January 2020, the Los Angeles LGBT Center broke new ground in South Los Angeles for the first time with the opening of Center South. The 5,500 square-foot facility located near Leimert Park partners with local organizations Bienestar Human Services, Black AIDS Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and The Wall Las Memorias Project who each have a part-time presence at Center South. Programs here focus on serving the needs of young gay and bi men of color ages 12 to 29 and trans women of color all of whom experience significantly higher HIV infection rates in addition to lack of access to housing, health and mental health services, and identity-affirming spaces.
I’m from L.A., and I’ve been waiting my whole life to see something like this. There are out, proud queer people in these communities who have amazing lives, and now they have something here that they can adopt and make their own—a safe space for queer people of color. – Paul Chavez, Community Engagement Manager, Health Services
Center South recently achieved Federally Qualified Health Center status allowing for the expansion of health care services in addition to the education and empowerment, case management, food distribution, and community building programs currently in place. We believe we have a responsibility to eradicate barriers in collaboration with our diverse Los Angeles communities. Take Pride in knowing that your support is helping create opportunities for the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community to live healthy, authentic lives.
Volunteers have been critical in enabling the Center to launch new programs in response to the pandemic including Pride Pantry, the Hello Club, and Senior Angels. Some of them performed important tasks, such as screening visitors who entered the Center’s health clinics and pharmacy.
I’ve used the Center for some of the resources over the years, and it was my time to give back. It’s been a rough time for everyone. A lot of us were not employed but there are people less fortunate, and I just thought it was my duty to help out finally. – Salvator Galati, Outstanding Pride Panty Volunteer
Over 1,025 volunteers stepped up for our emergency response efforts
Facilitate over 4,000 conversations with LGBTQ seniors isolated by the pandemic
Activate over 32,000 volunteer hours to combat hunger, homelessness, loneliness, and bigotry
Nearly 150,000 meals distributed to at-risk LGBTQ people
The Center believes heroes are everywhere amongst us. We see them every day. Take Pride in knowing your support is helping our larger LGBTQ community and allies put their Pride in action for our most vulnerable community members. Join us in celebrating some of our greatest heroes.
Thanksgiving can be a lonely time for many in the LGBTQ community who’ve lost family connections because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Financial and food insecurity too makes this season of celebration even more challenging for the community members the Center serves. This past Thanksgiving over 100 volunteers hand delivered more than 300 meals freshly prepared by our Culinary Arts program. The Culinary Arts program was joined in partnership by the Senior Services and Volunteer Resources teams ensuring support made it where it was most needed.
I was shocked when the Center reached out letting me know that I could sign up for a Thanksgiving meal delivery. I assumed I’d have to go it alone this year but the day before Thanksgiving, they kept their promise – a volunteer showed up at my door with a delicious meal and a handwritten note wishing me well. It may be a small thing to some, but it kept me smiling for days. Thank you, thank you, thank you. – Betty, Senior Services Member
We’re grateful to be in the position to serve. Take Pride in knowing your support connects our wider Center family with the kindness they deserve.
Named after famed Black, lesbian, feminist, poet Audre Lorde, our Audre Lorde Health Program is designed for LBTQ women by LBTQ women. The Center believes that living a complete, healthy life is an act of Pride in of itself. LBTQ women experience health risks a greater rates compared to their straight and cis counterparts. The ALHP meets these distinct needs via a full-range of identity-affirming, primary and mental healthcare services by staff who are partners in wellness. Services include GYN/pelvic care, fertility, hormone balancing, and a well-woman care approach addressing the intersecting life circumstances which impact health outcomes.
Lesbians and bisexual women:
Have risk factors for breast cancer
Higher risks for certain types of gynecological cancers
Higher rates of dependence on alcohol and recreational drugs
Higher rates of heart issues
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare. – Audre Lorde, Center health program namesake
Lesbians, bisexual women, non-binary and gender-fluid people are far less likely to visit the doctor or access health services because they often feel they cannot be open about their sexual orientation or gender identity. Take Pride in knowing that your support is ensuring LBTG women are living their fullest, healthiest lives.
Pride is found where LGBTQ community members gather and honor their authentic selves. For many in the Center community, that sense of community is found in our social networking and support groups. For years the Center has offered more than a dozen support groups dedicated to providing space for community members to explore their identities and coming out process, and make friends. It’s impossible feel proud of who you are as an LGBTQ person without an opportunity to connect with others living the same experience. Led by volunteer facilitators, these peer support groups, ranging from gender transition support, coming out, confidence building workshops and more, are all geared towards helping LGBTQ community members live fuller lives.
People in their daily lives don’t get to share their coming out or bisexuality or trans experience. This is their moment during the week to be able to open up and share with people who understand first-hand. We are still offering this during a really tough time because we are a community that really bonds together. – Lauren Flans, HerStories, Women’s Social Networking Group Facilitator
The pandemic did not break this connection and groups quickly pivoted to the virtual space allowing for LGBTQ people outside of the vicinity to more easily participate. The Center takes Pride in dedicating space and time to empower our community through all stages of life. Take Pride in knowing your support is connecting community with opportunities for growth and empowerment.
70 percent of LGBTQ students report being verbally harassed at school; more than 50 percent of LGBTQ students do not feel safe at school because of their sexual orientation, and 71 percent of LGBTQ students report of hearing homophobic remarks from staff members at school. The Los Angeles LGBT Center transforms school campuses into communities of support and safety for LGBTQ+ students with our OUT for Safe Schools® program. Founded in 2013 in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Center introduced the OUT for Safe Schools Campaign to encourage school staff to publicly identify as supportive LGBTQ+ allies in their school communities.
The premise is simple yet powerful: participating staff wear the OUT for Safe Schools® badges displaying their willingness to talk to students and parents about LGBTQ concerns. This lets students know that “safe spaces” aren’t limited to the classroom but extend to anywhere there is an adult who is wearing this badge. This visibility spreads to the playground, during lunch time, and in school hallways where most incidents of victimization occur.
With great success at reducing negative mental health outcomes for young people, the program is now active in New York Unified School District, DC Public Schools, DC office of the Superintendent, Chicago Public Schools, Duval County Public Schools, San Diego Unified School District, San Francisco Unified School District and Oakland Unified School District. The Center takes Pride in creating leadership roles for allies in support of LGBTQ youth at one of the most fragile times in their lives. Take Pride in knowing your support is creating safe spaces across the country.
Pride means family. On any given night in Los Angeles, there are approximately 5,000 youth experiencing homelessness trying to survive on the streets of Los Angeles. A staggering 40% of them identify as LGBTQ making the Center’s services and programs a critical lifeline. The Center’s Host Homes program provides an additional layer of support by pairing LGBTQ youth ages 18 – 24 with community members who are willing to open their homes to a young person in need of short-term housing. Hosts work together with the youth and Center staff to collaboratively establish house rules while setting up clear expectations for youth and their hosting families. Matches are made based on shared interests and goals that create the foundation for lasting meaningful relationships.
This program has been the most love and support that I’ve ever experienced in my life. I was able to have the motivation to do things which I normally wouldn’t do—I went out of my comfort zone. The program gave me the strength and motivation to finish something. – Dre, 19, Host Homes Youth Member
Most stays range from 3 – 6 months as an interim step along their long-term housing plans with Center staff. Host Homes has established a track record of success with 80 percent of the participants obtaining their own apartments through supportive housing, being reconnected with family, or achieving independent living because of this surrogate family support. The Center takes Pride in creating supportive family environments. Take Pride in knowing your support is creating a place to call home for LGBTQ youth in need.
The Center is supported by a team of nearly 800 employees dedicated to the service of the LGBTQ community. Our hallmark is providing culturally competent care designed to meet the distinct needs of our most vulnerable community members in all stages of life. Most of our staff, some of whom are previous clients, identify as community members placing us in the unique position to serve with empathy and compassion. We’re proud of their dedication and proud to offer a welcoming work environment where authenticity is the norm.
As a trans woman who was never able to medically transition, I have been given the incredible opportunity to experience life in a way I never thought possible. I had a strong desire to find a community and work in a place where I could be me authentically. I have found that at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
These shared lived experiences translate into a deeper sense of trust and appreciation between our service providers and those looking to them for a helping hand. Take Pride in knowing that your support is empowering our staff to provide the best care possible grounded in the power of shared experiences.
Pride means refuge. LGBTQ immigrants often experience unique challenges due to their gender identity or sexual orientation including severe physical and emotional harm. The Center is the nation’s largest community-based provider of LGBTQ-related legal services, supported by a team of staff and volunteer attorneys, law students, paralegals, and interns. We serve the legal needs of all LGBTQ people with a special focus on survivors of violence, undocumented immigrants, and transgender people including name and gender changes on official documents.
We got her out of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) custody, won her asylum, won her court case, and she received her green card. That was the end of a big journey. We helped her through to the end while we are catching other clients at the beginning of their problems. – Tess Feldman, staff attorney and immigration Law Project Manager; recounting transgender, activist, asylum seeker Raiza Aparicio, Guatemala
We’re currently serving more than 120 immigration and asylum seekers from more than 70 countries facing violence, imprisonment, and discrimination from their home countries. The Center proudly navigates the legal system while also keeping immigrants safe with supportive housing, healthcare, and more. Take Pride in knowing your support transcends borders.
Pride means impact. The Center’s impact is significant because of the support of friends like you. Each month, the Center welcomes more than 50,000 visits (more than half a million each year) from youth and adults who represent the full diversity of the LGBTQ community. People of all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and ages—from the new-born child of an LGBTQ parent to seniors in their golden years.
Our Pride Impact
More than 50,000 client visits
More than 26,791 client visits to our health services care providers
More than 22,871 bed nights were provided to homeless youth
Your Pride Impact
$100: Comprehensive HIV/STD testing and counseling for one client
$50: A full day of services (meals, shower, laundry, employment training, etc.) for one young person at our youth center
$25: Access to a month’s worth of support groups for a senior
All our services, which are available to everyone, are free or low-cost. We’re grateful to our LGBTQ community and allies who make this possible. We invite you to partner with us. Thank you for your support.
