Dr. Bruce Davidson and Quang Nguyen were invited by a mutual friend to a dinner party 40 years ago. The friend had a notion that the two might hit it off. He was right: it was love at first sight.
Davidson and Nguyen, a couple since that first dinner party, were married in 2013 when marriage equality resumed in California.
The Valley Village-based couple have been Sustaining Donors of the Center for many years and recently decided to include the Center in their estate plans by also becoming Circle of Life members.
“When we started working on our estate plan, it was just natural for us to include the Center as a beneficiary,” Davidson said. “We believe in the importance of the Center’s mission and the vital role it plays in the life of the LGBT community.”
The couple points to the Anita May Rosenstein Campus as one of the many reasons they are investing in the Center’s future. The campus is scheduled to open in early 2019 and will greatly expand the Center’s services and affordable housing options for the growing number of LGBTQ youth and seniors.
“We’re proud to also be contributors to the capital campaign for the new campus,” said Nguyen, who was born in Hue, Vietnam. “The Center’s expansion through this development is a truly exciting example of the effectiveness of the Center’s leadership and the dedication of the community’s support.”
Nguyen left Vietnam at the age of 17 to attend college in Switzerland before coming to the U.S. and settling in Los Angeles, where he spent 39 years working in banking before retiring. He’s been grateful for the reassuring presence of the Center.
“While we have not personally needed to utilize the healthcare or social services offered by the Center, we recognize that one day we may have those needs,” Nguyen said. “Perhaps more importantly, we believe that everyone should have access to the services they need to be healthy and happy members of a welcoming and inclusive community, free of discrimination. It has always been clear to us that the Center is dedicated to that vision.”
Davidson has lived in Los Angeles since the age of 10 when his family relocated from Boston. He returned to the East Coast to be a pre-med student at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), then switched to public health when he attended grad school at UCLA. He went on to work in major healthcare organizations in Southern California and is currently semi-retired.
The couple believes supporting the Center has become increasingly important since the 2016 presidential election and the threats to LGBT equality that have followed.
“The Center will continue to play a pivotal role as a critical service provider for LGBT people in need in the immediate Los Angeles community, and also as a vigorous defender of our hard-fought civil rights locally and nationally, as well as an international beacon of light to LGBT people,” Davidson said.