By Reid Nakamura The vibrant neighborhood of Boyle Heights bursted in piñatas and festive flair over the weekend with music, laughter, and an undeniable feeling of community at the second annual Sabor de Mi Centro celebration. The Pride-themed block party, organized by the Los Angeles LGBT Center in partnership with the Latino Equality Alliance, aimed to empower and uplift the LGBTQ+ Latine community (clients and providers) in Boyle Heights and Southeast LA. Mi Centro, a community center and safe haven for LGBTQ+ people and their allies in East Los Angeles, provides crucial programs and services to the surrounding community. For…
Author: Reid Nakamura
By Reid Nakamura The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Senior Prom returned this year with a 25th anniversary event complete with food, raffles, chic dress code and group line dance to “The Electric Slide.” Curated for LGBTQ+ older adults, the dance drew hundreds to Friendship Auditorium in Los Feliz on the last day of Pride Month– all decked in their finest black and white attire. This year’s event took on special meaning, celebrating 25 years of a tradition for those unable to experience (or enjoy) their own high school proms. “Senior Prom was created right at the beginning of our Senior…
By Reid Nakamura Montana State Representative Zooey Zephyr attended Trans Pride LA’s inaugural Trans Town Hall on Friday, June 16 for a live interview with host Raquel Willis, shedding light on her journey to becoming the first out transgender woman elected to the Montana legislature and reflecting on the legislative attacks on transgender rights in her home state. Zephyr was in the news earlier this year when she was retaliated against by her colleagues for speaking out against legislation barring gender-affirming care for minors. “I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you…
By Reid Nakamura With an estimated 1,700 attendees across two days and a three-hour Trans Town Hall in the Renberg Theatre featuring some of the biggest transgender figures in sports, politics, media, and entertainment, Trans Pride LA returned this year with its biggest event yet. The two-day festivities shut down McCadden with food stands, market and resource vendors, live entertainment, and more attendees than Trans Pride LA has ever seen. But organizer Gina Bigham, who has spearheaded Trans Pride LA for more than a decade, says the original grassroots spirit of Trans Pride hasn’t changed. She likens the annual gathering…
Trans Pride LA (TPLA) returned this year with two days of events at the Anita May Rosenstein Campus and The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, including the first-ever Trans Town Hall. A new addition to the TPLA schedule this year, the Trans Town Hall featured over two hours of conversations and panel discussions featuring national and local activists, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s health providers and frontline staff, and nationally renowned transgender figures in media and entertainment. The event, curated and hosted by trans author and activist Raquel Willis, drew hundreds to the Renberg Theatre on Friday night, requiring overflow…
By Chris Rodgers and Reid Nakamura, Photography by Erik Carter This year, the Los Angeles LGBT Center officially observes Juneteenth—the first time the organization will do so in our more than 50-year history. There has been a collective awakening around the observance of Juneteenth since the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, with many people referring to it as the “Black Independence Day.” The truth about Juneteenth is, of course, somewhat more complicated: Technically speaking, “Freedom’s Eve” occurred on December 31, 1863 when enslaved and free African Americans gathered to hear the news that the Emancipation Proclamation had taken effect.…
The LA Pride Parade drew thousands to the streets of Hollywood this year, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center was out in full force along with hundreds of other parade contingents to celebrate, uplift, and inspire LGBTQ+ people in Los Angeles and around the world. Despite uncharacteristically cloudy weather, hundreds of Center staff and supporters showed up to show off their Pride, wearing brightly colored shirts that read “Center Your Pride” and proudly distributing fans, flags, and signs to the gathered crowds. The centerpiece of the Center’s Pride contingent was a double-decker bus decked out in a bright, bold pink.…
Every year, AIDS/LifeCycle brings together individuals from all walks of life, united by a common purpose: to combat the HIV and AIDS epidemic and raise funds for vital support services. A seven-day cycling journey from San Francisco to Los Angeles, AIDS/LifeCycle has grown from a few hundred participants in 1994 to thousands each year, raising millions of dollars for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. As riders bike the 545 miles down the coast of California each June, they carry the memory of loved ones lost, hope for a brighter future where HIV and AIDS…
After a four-year absence, one of the Center’s most engaging events, WxW: For Women, By Women, returned in person this year to the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus and The Village at Ed Gould Plaza with an expansive and unflinching keynote address by author Roxane Gay. The free community event welcomed more than 300 attendees to participate in a full day of workshops, shop dozens of local market vendors, and enjoy a full array of live entertainment, including a fashion show showcasing L.A.-based designers and a performance by Calypso Jeté Balmain, the winner of the first season…
The Advocate & Gochis Galleries are currently host to a special exhibition featuring the work of artists from the Senior Services program. Introspections, the Center’s first senior art exhibition, showcases work from two of the Center’s programs, an autobiographical painting class taught by Carly Strauss and a hanging art class taught by Seth Randal. “A number of folks are experienced artists who have been doing painting and or sculpture work other things,” said Michael McFadden, associate director of programs for Senior Services. “For some folks, this is the first time that they ever painted. So, it’s just a great opportunity…