• Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • This Year’s AIDS/LifeCycle Participants on Why They Ride
  • Roxane Gay Celebrates Audre Lorde Health Program at WxW: ‘Care in the Truest Sense of the Word’
  • ‘Introspections’: The Los Angeles LGBT Center Celebrates Senior Artists in a Special Exhibition
  • Bridging Communities While Honoring the Diversity of AANHPI Month: Emiko Kenderes’ Journey at the Los Angeles LGBT Center
  • Mpox Resurgence: What You Should Know
  • Pamela Anderson Shares Words of Wisdom at Center Gala: ‘Love Relentlessly’
  • Keke Palmer Celebrates Her Queerness, the LGBTQ+ Community at Center Gala
  • An Unstoppable Force: Center CEO Joe Hollendoner Touts Successes in the Face of Adversity
Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube
LGBT News Now
Learn about career opportunities at the Center
  • Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
LGBT News Now
You are at:Home»Voices»From the CEO»Center CEO Joe Hollendoner: “Our Work Is Never Done”

Center CEO Joe Hollendoner: “Our Work Is Never Done”

0
By on November 14, 2022 From the CEO

By Joe Hollendoner (Published in Fall/Winner 2022 Issue of Center’s Vanguard Magazine)

I began my tenure as CEO of the Los Angeles LGBT Center in July, just as our community began to face yet another public health crisis: human monkeypox.

The first case of monkeypox was diagnosed in the United States in May, and within a few weeks, cases were being identified in major cities across the U.S., including Los Angeles. By July, it was clear that—just like with HIV/AIDS—gay and bi men were being disproportionately affected, and our community would once again need to come together to protect ourselves.

The federal government took no immediate action to stop human monkeypox, despite being able to predict that an outbreak in the U.S. was likely. Worse, effective vaccines and treatments existed but were not being made available. Medical providers refused care to their patients, with some citing lack of familiarity with the virus and others outright discriminating against LGBTQ+ people. Media reports not only stigmatized, but also dehumanized gay men by spreading misinformation about who was at risk for infection. Conservative elected officials furthered their attacks on our community by calling gay men “unclean,” “diseased,” or somehow “deserving” of this virus.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center stepped into the leadership void created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies, taking immediate action and doing what we do best: caring and advocating for our community. Our healthcare professionals diagnosed and treated human monkeypox cases and administered vaccines at our sites throughout Los Angeles. Our policy team demanded that state and federal law and policymakers provide resources to stop the outbreak. And we launched community outreach programs and websites to provide medically accurate and sex-positive education about human monkeypox prevention.

Make no mistake about it: the current decline of monkeypox cases in Los Angeles County is a direct result of the Center’s efforts. If the Center hadn’t stepped in and stepped up, I have no doubt that cases would still be on the incline today.

All too often in public health, we use data to measure our success. Interpreting data is critical to crafting a successful response, but it only tells one part of the story. We must never forget the individuals represented in the numbers. I can assure you that while our researchers kept a careful eye on the trends we were seeing in our clinics, our providers never lost sight of the human impact of this crisis.

Every time I visited one of the Center’s human monkeypox vaccination clinics to thank our hard-working staff, a patient would stop me and share their story. While the specifics of each story differed, what remained consistent was how they came to the Center with fear or confusion, but left our doors feeling empowered and informed. I will never forget the relief I saw in these patients’ eyes and the deep gratitude I could hear in their voices.

Our work to educate, vaccinate, and advocate in response to human monkeypox has been invaluable. Unfortunately, we have not received a single dollar from the federal, state, or county governments to fund these efforts. I am optimistic that this will soon change, but had the Center not used funds provided by our individual donors to support our actions, I fear we would still be contending with another epidemic that disproportionately affects our community. If you’re reading this, the chances are good that it was your donation that allowed the Center to act when our community needed us most. I continue to be inspired by the way that queer and trans people show up for one another. I’m even coming to realize that the LGBTQ+ community in Los Angeles shows up like nobody else in the movement.

To have led the Center through this particular crisis reminded me of two things. The first is that, despite decades of progress, our community still needs to come together to fight and advocate for ourselves. Whether it’s public health emergencies or Supreme Court atrocities, we must remember that our collective resilience makes us unstoppable. The second is that there is no organization better equipped to mobilize our community for the many fights ahead than the Los Angeles LGBT Center. We have over five decades of experience defending and advancing the rights of LGBTQ+ people, and that experience will be leveraged to its fullest in response to whatever is on the horizon.

Expanding our community’s fight for equality—even just sustaining our hard-fought gains—is a big task, I know. But I can promise you this: You will never have to do it alone. In the face of any political or public health threat to our community, you can depend on your Center to be there, championing you and your right to exist as a healthy, equal, and complete member of society.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

Lorri L. Jean: “Great Things Must Come to an End”

Center CEO Lorri L. Jean: “It’s Been a Wild Ride — But We’re Still Hanging On”

Center CEO Lorri L. Jean on why LGBTQ+ Californians need to vote on September 14

Comments are closed.

Upcoming Events

Apr 29
April 29 - June 24

A New Brain

May 13
May 13 - June 12

The Bottoming Process

Jun 16
4:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Trans Pride LA 2023: Trans Town Hall

Jun 17
12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Trans Pride LA 2023: Festival

View Calendar
About Us

LGBT News Now

LGBT News Now is a publication of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, the Center is the largest LGBT organization in the world, dedicated to building a world where LGBT thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.

Follow Us on Instagram

lalgbtcenter

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is building a world where LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society.

Los Angeles LGBT Center
Day One of #TransPrideLA officially kicks off with Day One of #TransPrideLA officially kicks off with the #TransTownHall, a forum with many of your faves—like @xosonique, @msisisking, @sharsaysso, @cecetelfer, @ladragnuns, and so many more. Join us on June 16th at 5PM right on our Hollywood campus to celebrate our community and hear more about the fight ahead. Admission is FREE, so RSVP now at lalgbcenter.org/transpride23 (or hit that #linkinbio). 

Special thanks to our partner, @weareangelcity. 

#ProtectTransKids #TransVisibility #NonBinary #TransIsBeautiful #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransPrideLA #PrideMonth #AngelFC
Introducing: The #TransTownHall, a program curated Introducing: The #TransTownHall, a program curated and hosted by @raquel_willis that’s kicking off this year’s #TransPrideLA! On June 16th at 5PM on our campus in Hollywood, we’ll celebrate and center some incredible voices from the trans community—from @laith_ashley to @tracelysette, @thomaspagemcbee, @cecetelfer, @jordanilan, and many more. 

The Trans Town Hall is just Day One of our annual TPLA celebration, which continues on Saturday, June 17th with a festival, workshops, resource fair, vendors, and so much more. Come for the live entertainment and free goodies—stay for the community. RSVP today at the link in bio!

Special thanks to our partner, @weareangelcity. 

#ProtectTransKids #TransVisibility #NonBinary #TransIsBeautiful #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransPrideLA #PrideMonth #AngelFC
#TransPrideLA is back, baby—but this year, we’ #TransPrideLA is back, baby—but this year, we’re doing things a little different. We’re kicking off TPLA weekend with the #TransTownHall—a stage program curated and hosted by @raquel_willis that celebrates and elevates trans voices at this crucial time in our movement.

On June 16th in Hollywood, join folks like @peppermint247, @thechrismosier, Montana state representative @zoandbehold, and more for an evening you won’t forget. And let’s take a stand against the anti-trans bullshit, loud and proud. RSVP today at the #linkinbio! 

Special thanks to our partner, @weareangelcity.  #ProtectTransKids #TransVisibility #NonBinary #TransIsBeautiful #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransPrideLA #PrideMonth #AngelFC
Hello from #RedDressDay on @AIDSLifeCycle! That’ Hello from #RedDressDay on @AIDSLifeCycle! That’s right: On top of our riders making the 545-miles on bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles AND fundraising for HIV/AIDS—they also celebrate with the occasional dress code. (This is an LGBTQ fundraiser, after all.) Red Dress Day is a long beloved tradition in HIV/AIDS fundraising, but our #AIDSLifeCycle participants take it to a whole new level. Swipe to enjoy some of our favorite fashion moments from today…and a particularly compelling cameo from @joe.hollendoner.
They did it, Joe! Our @AIDSLifeCycle riders have o They did it, Joe! Our @AIDSLifeCycle riders have officially passed their halfway point to Los Angeles, biking over 200 miles from San Francisco. At the rest stop, we caught up with @colmacpro, otherwise known as Mr. Los Angeles Leather 2023. Colin is a #roadie on #AIDSLifeCycle, which means he’s volunteering for the week to keep our riders safe and motivated. “I’ve wanted to do ALC for 10 years,” he says. “When I got kicked out of my childhood home for being gay at the age of 15, the last thing my mom said to me was that I’d die of AIDS. I was terrified [of the virus] for most of my life—but now I’ve had partners who are positive. Growing up and seeing the evolution of HIV/AIDS treatment makes me want to help.” 

Colin is rocking his titleholder sash all week as a tribute to the way the Leather Community was impacted by HIV/AIDS. “We were hit so hard during the epidemic. That means the people still left are the ones who carry on the tradition. In fact, some people wear leather pieces from those we lost to the crisis. It’s our way of remembering them.”

Stay tuned for additional updates from the ride—and follow our friends at @aidslifecycle for more.
Last night, a school board meeting in #Glendale tu Last night, a school board meeting in #Glendale turned violent—with police having to issue a shelter-in-place order for participants. The reason? Glendale Unified was voting to recognize June as #LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Today, the Center issued the above statement. “It’s time we call out these attempts for what they are: Fascism. Pride, on the other hand, is about freedom.” Swipe to read it in full. #SafeSchools #LGBTQPride #OutForSafeSchools
The Los Angeles LGBTQties really turned it out for The Los Angeles LGBTQties really turned it out for #WeHoPride this weekend! Swipe to see some of our favorite highlights from the festivities—including one very good boy who believes in gay rights. (And by the way, thanks to any and all of you for rocking your #CenterYourPride swag. It looks good on you!)

📸 @mammothsprite
Mark your calendars for June 16-17 for the return Mark your calendars for June 16-17 for the return of #TransPrideLA, presented by @weareangelcity. This festival has been observed for more than a decade—making it one of the oldest, dedicated celebrations of Transgender Pride in the country. 

The iconic two-day event takes place at the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Hollywood campus and features appearances by Montana state @zoandbehold, @raquel_willis, @laith_ashley, and many more! 

RSVP today at link in bio! 

Stay tuned for more details! 🏳️‍⚧️

#transisbeautiful #ProtectTransKids #TransVisibility #NonBinary #TransIsBeautiful #TransRightsAreHumanRights #TransPrideLA #PrideMonth #AngelFC
Happy #Pride to @trinoxadam, the LA-based gay coup Happy #Pride to @trinoxadam, the LA-based gay couple whose photo shoot went viral at the beginning of this month. “Pride, to us, is celebrating and screaming to the world about who you are, with no fucks given,” they told us. “We keep our love alive with honesty and by having different layers to our relationship. We’re homies, friends, family, lovers, husbands, dads, brothers, and besties.” Shoutout to photographer @henryjimenz for capturing their love so beautifully. Want to be featured? Use the #CenterYourPride and you might show up on our page 🥰
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Stay Connected
Subscribe
Copyright © 2022 Los Angeles LGBT Center
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.