I used to live around the block from the Center, passing it every day on my commute. My former partner and I had a ritual of redistributing our unused clothes and household items to new peo- ple and places, and we decided to make this our top spot for donations. We did it anonymously, yet frequently enough to learn several Center employees by name. When my publicist told me about a few special events taking place, I decided to be visible and vocal about my support. As I learn more about the team and various programs, I remain in awe of what…
Author: Greg Hernandez
Following its successful live telethon in 2020 which raised an incredible $1.3 million benefiting the LGBTQ community during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles LGBT Center will produce a second edition of Love in Action on Saturday, August 14, from 7–9 p.m. PT. The two-hour fundraising show, presented by The Ariadne Getty Foundation and Glamazon L.A. – Amazon’s LGBTQ+ Affinity Group, will air on television station KTLA 5 to sustain the Center’s vital programs and services impacted by the pandemic. Emmy Award-winning actress Jane Lynch and KTLA 5 news anchor Cher Calvin will return as telethon co-hosts. The first A-list…
As part of Gucci’s Changemakers program, employees are able to do volunteer work four days a year with pay. I began working at Pride Pantry through this program and loved it so much that I kept coming back. Watching the news, seeing people visit food banks, and seeing the drastic need for food in general hit a nerve with me. I felt like I had to do something somewhere, somehow related to that. I volunteer on Thursdays which is when we box up food and put fresh produce into bags in preparation of the distribution on Fridays. People can walk…
Rick Clifton and his friends packed a picnic lunch of fried chicken, Pimento cheese, and Crudate then took a Lyft to Hollywood Forever. They joined more than 1,000 others on June 27 for the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s first-ever Pride Picnic. “I’ve had the best time I’ve had in a very long time,” said Clifton, co-host of the Queer Magnolias podcast. “It’s my first time out to an event of this size since the pandemic. It feels like an actual picnic. Being from the South, that stands out a lot. Everyone is blending really well with such a nice, lovely…
Standing in front of Cow Palace in San Francisco, Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Lorri L. Jean had a big announcement to make: “I am so happy to tell you that the AIDS/LifeCycle is back!” “We’re all going to be meeting here and starting this seven-day ride,” Jean said in an exuberant video that debuted on Thursday. The world’s largest single event HIV/AIDS fundraiser will return as an in-person event on June 5–11, 2022. The 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles benefits the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the HIV/AIDS-related services of the Center. “It’s been two…
After its launch more than eight months ago, TogetheRide wrapped up this week and raised $2,592,546 for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the HIV and AIDS-related services of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The 1,970 global participants — some as far away as London and New York — raised funds by logging miles at their own pace, such as hitting the roads on their bicycles or pedaling at home on an indoor bike. Participants’ ages ranged from 2 to 85 years old. “We set out to do something audacious this year and could not have achieved all that we…
By Greg Hernandez Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Frank Galassi loved to eat a hot lunch with his fellow seniors inside the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Senior Center after teaching his Brain Power class on Thursdays. “People couldn’t wait to get to that lunch. It was like a new world: all sitting together and absorbing who we all are,” shares Galassi, 83. “I would sit there with my peers—a very mixed group—but most are struggling financially. They have expressed such gratitude for the services that the Center is giving including the ability to provide quality food five days…
By Greg Hernandez It’s been a year of unprecedented legislative attacks against transgender rights in the U.S., but you won’t find ACLU Deputy Director of the Transgender Justice Project Chase Strangio in despair. Strangio, the first trans individual to argue—and win—a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, looks back to history as his community engages in battle against the onslaught of legislative bills in various states seeking to place legal restrictions on transgender people’s rights. “If anyone can come up with extra legal solutions for survival, it’s us,” Strangio said during the Big Queer Convo held during the Los Angeles LGBT…
By Greg Hernandez With a husband and two small children, Mandy Richardville’s house was already full when her family decided to make room for a young, transgender youth named Dre who moved in with them in December 2019. “He really livened up our house,” she recollected. “He was so kind and thoughtful and really made a mark on us. We were really excited to get him in before Christmas knowing he had experienced homelessness and was estranged from his own family.” Dre’s three-month stay with the Richardville’s was arranged through the Center’s Host Homes program in which an LGBTQ youth…
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. 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. That has included undergoing Hormone Replacement Therapy and being able to have a support system that has been invaluable to me. Being a part of the LGBT community and having space to work in a professional setting as our authentic self is…