January is Cervical Health Awareness Month and an excellent time to honor this rarely seen part of the body which has important sexual and reproductive health functions. Doing two important things can help prevent cervical cancer: the HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) vaccine and getting routine screening for cervical cancer, according to Kaiyti Duffy, Medical Director of the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Audre Lorde Health Program for lesbian and bi women. Cervical cancer screening is recommended, starting at age 21, for anyone with a cervix, whether or not a person has received the HPV vaccine and regardless of sexual activity. “We…
Author: Greg Hernandez
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 4,200 people each month have been getting their prescriptions filled at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s bustling pharmacy located on the ground floor of the Center’s McDonald/Wright Building. On National Pharmacist Day (January 12), an occasion that recognizes and honors all pharmacists across the nation, Pharmacy Director Nicole Thibeau (pictured, below) and her 60-plus staff are in the middle of administering the Moderna vaccine to the Center’s frontline workers. “It’s the first step towards returning to normalcy,” Thibeau says. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to be able to provide the vaccine to our…
By Greg Hernandez It was on January 11, 2020, when more than 300 people gathered for the grand opening of Center South, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s first-ever expansion into South Los Angeles. Palpable excitement and joy were in the air. Social distancing was not necessary, there was not a mask in sight, and COVID-19 was something that didn’t seem to exist in the U.S. at that point. “It was a way of letting people know we are here, and services were about to begin,” Center South Senior Program Manager David Flores (pictured, right) reflects a year later. “Then the…
I think volunteering is an essential component of being human. To help others and to think beyond oneself is to contribute to the well-being of the community around you and to move the world a fraction more toward the good. Plus, it’s good for the complexion. I’ve learned that I have a much better sense of self-worth when I volunteer. It takes me out of my own loops of preoccupation and small anxieties. Delivering groceries to seniors feels incredibly urgent to me because that population is much more susceptible to the damaging effects of COVID-19. The risk to me, however,…
Los Angeles LGBT Center Health Services Compliance Coordinator Alejandra Galindo began shaking when she received the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. It had been a long nine months leading up to this day. Galindo (pictured above) has worked inside the Center’s McDonald/Wright Building throughout the pandemic. During that time, her sister-in-law died after becoming infected with the virus, her 79-year-old mother tested positive for the virus, and Galindo herself became sick with COVID-19. “It’s been hard and scary,” Galindo shared. “This virus is for real—it’s no joke. Having it was just a horrible experience. I went through it,…
My work as an immigration attorney is about fighting for, and with, marginalized people, people of color, and indigenous peoples who have survived violence and trafficking. I am very passionate about humanitarian immigration work and want to fight for my clients in court, at detention centers, and before the government agencies. The Center was the right place for me to continue my commitment to this mission and my clients. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we at Legal Services are limiting the number of in-person appointments we have with clients and have replaced walk-in hours for appointments to phone calls. This…
Singing, tap dancing, lip syncing—and even some sword swallowing—highlighted this year’s virtual holiday party for Los Angeles LGBT Center Senior Services clients. “I hope this got you in the holiday spirit,” said drag personality Lil Hot Mess—with eyelashes for days—who hosted the December 14 celebration and treated viewers to three different versions of Jingle Bellschanneling Peggy Lee, Dolly Parton, and Barbra Streisand, respectively. “I hope it got you feeling a little merrier and lighter and brighter.” The Trans Chorus of Los Angeles performed moving renditions of I’ll Be Home For Christmas and Don’t Give Up; singer-songwriter and rapper Tish Hyman…
I grew up in a family where my parents were involved with volunteering in the community so it’s always been in my mind to give back with my time. I began volunteering at the Center 15 years ago by helping out with theatrical productions put on by Cultural Arts. I’ve set up the theatre lobby prior to shows, greeted and checked-in guests, seated audience members, and broken down the lobby afterwards. I love volunteering with this department because I interact with people coming to the shows, some whom I’d normally never get to meet. Each show draws a particular segment…
By Greg Hernandez The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Legal Services is currently representing immigration and asylum clients from more than 70 countries—almost all of whom will be killed or arrested for being LGBTQ if they go back to their home countries, according to Tess Feldman, staff attorney and Immigration Law Project Manager (pictured above). Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for these legal services has only grown. “We have a record number of clients because people have not slowed down coming to us for help and the immigration courts are open,” Feldman tells LGBT News Now. “We are proceeding on cases, we are going forward, we…
The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Resistance Squad has been burning up the phone lines in recent weeks to register LGBT voters in Georgia and make sure they participate in their state’s two upcoming Senate run-off races between Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and their Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively. The Center joined forces with Georgia Equality(members pictured above), the largest LGBT rights advocacy organization in the Peach State, in an ambitious effort to reach approximately 750,000 LGBT voters. With two phone banks already done, volunteers are still needed for the third—and final—phone banking shift happening…