Author: Gil Diaz

Jonathan Muñoz-Proulx will be the next Artistic Director of the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s highly-acclaimed Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center in Hollywood. Muñoz-Proulx is an Ovation Award-nominated director who is currently Director of Cultural Programming at A Noise Within Theatre in Pasadena. He also has served on the Latinx Theatre Commons National Advisory Committee and the LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Rules Committee. “This invitation to serve as the next Artistic Director of the Los Angeles LGBT Center is a dream come true,” said Muñoz-Proulx. “As a queer, Latinx, millennial arts leader, seeing powerful LGBT stories onstage has viscerally impacted my…

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Following the United States Senate confirmation today of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, Los Angeles LGBT Center Executive Director Joe Hollendoner issued the following statement: “The Los Angeles LGBT Center congratulates the Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson on this monumental occasion of becoming the first Black woman to be confirmed to the United States Supreme Court. At a time when the LGBTQ community is under attack within statehouses across the country, the Honorable Brown Jackson’s confirmation offers hope that the highest court in the land will protect and expand LGBTQ equality as well as the rights of all…

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Today the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was signed into law by President Biden. The bill becomes the first federal legislation to create a standalone grant program specific to the LGBTQ community. In response to the signing of VAWA, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Chief Impact Officer Terra Russell-Slavin issued the following statement: “The Los Angeles LGBT Center celebrates the passage and signing into law of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 as part of the omnibus appropriations bill. The legislation reauthorizes the law until 2027, includes enhancements to increase access to VAWA-funded programs,…

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Following the Los Angeles City Council’s unanimous confirmation today of Kristin Crowley as the next Fire Chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Executive Director Joe Hollendoner issued the following statement: “The Center applauds the historic confirmation of Kristin Crowley to lead the fire department of the nation’s second-largest city. She is the first female fire chief of the LAFD and the first openly LGBTQ person to hold the position. She has dedicated more than two decades—previously as the City’s first female and first LGBTQ Deputy Chief Fire Marshal—to serving our communities and ensuring…

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Following President Biden’s nomination today of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the newest member of the United States Supreme Court, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Executive Director Joe Hollendoner issued the following statement: “The Los Angeles LGBT Center commends President Biden for the historic nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court. As a former public defender and the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, Judge Jackson will bring a powerful understanding of the justice system’s role in upholding the rights of the most marginalized, including rights of the LGBTQ community. “We call on the Senate to…

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At a critical time when the United States is experiencing its first-ever emergency blood crisis, four LGBTQ+ organizations—APLA Health, Equality California (EQCA), Los Angeles LGBT Center, and San Francisco AIDS Foundation—join California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara in urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to overturn a discriminatory policy maintained under the prior administration. On Monday, Commissioner Lara sent a letter urging an end to the FDA’s policy banning blood donations from gay and bisexual men. Currently the FDA requires that men who have sex with men must abstain from sex for three months before donating blood. “This is…

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On this World AIDS Day, the Los Angeles LGBT Center commemorates 40 years of the HIV epidemic and commits its continuing efforts to end AIDS. “It has been 40 years since the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) first reported a mysterious illness among five young gay men in Los Angeles that would later become known as AIDS. This report would be followed by a devastating loss of life that, sadly, continues today,” said Center Executive Director Joe Hollendoner. “This World AIDS Day, we remember those who died due to government inaction rooted in homophobia, celebrate the continued resiliency of long-term…

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The Los Angeles LGBT Center lauds the County Board of Supervisors for passing a supplemental budget today to its fiscal year 2021-2022, which includes an allocation of $3.6 million to provide direct services and support to LGBTQ foster youth under its care. Led by Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda L. Solis, and with the determined leadership of Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) Director Bobby Cagle, this commendable decision finally will begin to address the well-documented and unmet needs of these young people. “The Los Angeles LGBT Center has seen far too many LGBTQ foster youth suffer due to…

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This Saturday, August 14, from 7–9 p.m. PT, some of Hollywood’s A-list entertainers and influencers will be out in full force to support the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s second edition of its Love in Action telethon airing live on KTLA 5 and streaming services. Eva Longoria, RuPaul, Rufus Wainwright, Jane Lynch, Gabrielle Union, Don Lemon, Lena Waithe, Heidi N Closet, Melissa Etheridge, Nikita Dragun, Alyson Stoner, Frankie Grande, Nate Berkus & Jeremiah Brent, Laith Ashley, Jason Collins, Brian Michael Smith, Clea DuVall, Belinda Carlisle & James Duke Mason, Stephanie Allynne, Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, Chris Mosier, KITTENS, Sylvan Esso,…

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In response to the United States Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling today in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia that the city may not bar a Catholic agency from screening out potential LGBT foster parents, the Los Angeles LGBT Center issued the following statement: “The Center is deeply disappointed by today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court. On its surface, this case was about whether a private foster care agency can use their religious beliefs to justify excluding LGBTQ+ people from its publicly-funded services. But on a deeper level, the Court has reaffirmed a pattern that is all too familiar to…

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