Sharon-Franklin Brown, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s chief human resources officer, was once fired from a job because she’s transgender. It’s one of the reasons why passage of the Equality Act, which would add sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is deeply personal to her. “Everyone deserves the right to live as their authentic self,” Brown (pictured, above) said during the Center’s Big Queer Convo about the Equality Act and its impacts on the Black LGBTQ community. “This particular act would actually send a clear message to everyone that our lives matter and…
Author: Greg Hernandez
Whenever she drives down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, California Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager lights up as she passes by Center South, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s facility in South Los Angeles. “It makes me smile every time I see the sign,” she told LGBT News Now following her February 26 tour of the building . “I love the location, I love that it says right out on the front it’s an LGBT center in South LA. I am all for living outside of the shadows and having this organization here.” Kamlager currently represents the 54th Assembly District which includes nearby…
I initially became a volunteer as part of the writing team for the Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration in 2019 at the Greek Theatre. Telling the story of the Center and working with the people who were part of its history—and of its future—was truly humbling. Plus, I got to have lunch with Lily Tomlin! Shortly before the COVID-19 crisis started, my mom passed away. Then, in early April, my dad passed away. (Neither passing was from COVID-19.) My work then paused completely due to the pandemic, I suddenly had nothing but time and wanted to get out of my own…
Photographer Chris J. Russo is happy to be one of six artists whose work is featured in the virtual art exhibit Darkness/Light being presented by the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Advocate & Gochis Galleries. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, there have been no physical exhibits in the popular space that opened in 1998 within The Village at Ed Gould Plaza. This is the Galleries’ second virtual exhibit to open in recent months. “My hope is that the virtual gallery experience offers an opportunity to those seeking some of the connection to art and community we were all used to…
The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s volunteer mobilization team Resistance Squad has joined local, state, and national LGBT and social justice organizations in urging Congress to finally pass the Equality Act. The volunteers participated in an initial phone banking effort — all done remotely from home – on February 21 targeting Republican senators in Maine and Pennsylvania. Some version of the Equality Act has been put forth in Congress every year since the 1970s, but this year is seen as its best chance at becoming law by adding sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.…
The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a great place to work, learn, grow, and just build a stronger foundation for your professional development. I have learned that I am even more resilient as a Black trans woman working within the Center. I have a clear‐cut understanding of myself and what is needed. The Center itself is a work in progress. The work must continue at a consistent, diligent level to bring not only inclusion but also an expansion of understanding for all. The conversations staff is having about diversity and inclusion has been one of the most memorable things in…
It’s such a good feeling to help others. You never know whose life you’re changing. Becoming a facilitator for the Center’s Bi-osphere and Coming Out groups during the COVID-19 pandemic has enabled me to connect with people virtually during a time when we’re told not to go anywhere or even have people over. It’s four walls, and you are in your thoughts. There are people, who are usually very social, who are experiencing depression for the first time. Making people feel good is a big thing for me, and this has been an opportunity for me to spread positivity. I…
When Edward Stanza’s medical provider offered him an opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, he turned it down because they couldn’t give a dose to his husband David Quinte (pictured above, left). “Even though I have an immune deficiency issue, I wanted David to have it at the same time,” Stanza says. “After 38 years together, it wouldn’t have been fair. One getting vaccinated, and not the other, was not an option for us.” The opportunity came just two weeks later when the couple was among the residents of Triangle Square, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s affordable housing complex in…
By Greg Hernandez With far fewer people riding buses or trains these days, LA Metro is doing its part to keep people connected during the coronavirus pandemic through a series of virtual Community Conversations highlighting certain neighborhoods, such as Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and the San Fernando Valley. On February 3, the focus was on Mi Centro, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s eastside location managed in partnership with the Latino Equality Alliance (LEA). “Some people may think Mi Centro is just for LGBTQ,” LEA Executive Director Eddie Martinez (pictured, left) pointed out to viewers. “We are a very inclusive space, and very…
By Greg Hernandez Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Bolan wants the Los Angeles LGBT Center to play a bigger role in distributing COVID-19 vaccines to its clients. “We find ourselves begging to be let into the distribution,” Bolan said during a virtual In Conversation event presented by AIDS/LifeCycle’s TogetherRide on February 3. “Right now, we are receiving dribs and drabs of vaccine supplies—100 doses a week at a time. We don’t know when the next supply is going to come.” Because of this, Bolan said it is impossible for the Center’s Health Services to make plans to extend its vaccination…