• 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»Community»Center’s Star-Studded “Love in Action” Telethon Nearing $1.3 Million in COVID-19 Response Support

Center’s Star-Studded “Love in Action” Telethon Nearing $1.3 Million in COVID-19 Response Support

0
By on September 16, 2020 Community

Midway through the September 12 Love in Action telethon benefitting the Los Angeles LGBT Center, co-host Jane Lynch told KTLA 5 and livestream viewers worldwide that she had a feeling in her bones.

“I just know we’re going to exceed our $1 million goal tonight,” predicted the five-time Emmy winning actress and TV game show host.

Lynch was absolutely correct.

By the end of the incredible two-hour show a total of $1,273,063 had been raised for the Center’s vital programs and services which have been in more demand since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Tuesday, the Center confirms donations were still coming in with a final total that could exceed the $1.3 million mark.

Lynch, a former member of the Center’s Board of Directors, described the organization as “the model for centers around the world. It’s an amazing place which is why I love it so much. The depth and the breadth of programs and services really blows me away. It’s like 12 non-profits under one roof.”

The Glee alum co-hosted the live show with KTLA 5 News anchor Cher Calvin, who shared with viewers that her father Roger Calvin, a former movie star in the Philippines, came out as a gay man when she was 18. Although her father was a big fan, it was her mother who insisted on naming her Cher after the famous singer and actress.

Then that Cher (the Oscar-Grammy-Emmy-winning icon) helped kick things off by asking people to donate, calling the Center “an unstoppable force in fighting bigotry for a better world. We need this desperately right now.”

Love in Action was presented by The Ariadne Getty Foundation.

“Because both of my children, Nats and August, are part of the LGBT community, it should surprise no one that much of my work focuses on LGBT causes,” Getty told viewers. “I’ve been a strong supporter of the Center for the past five years. The Center has continued to be a safe haven for all those who show up at its doorstep and call out for help.”

k.d. lang Calls In From Canada

Throughout the show, Lynch and Calvin conducted live interviews with Center CEO Lorri L. Jean, singer k.d. lang, RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Shangela, and Star Trek: Discovery co-stars Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz, who portray a gay couple on the hit science-fiction show.

Appearing from Canada, lang joked with the co-hosts about how her concerts during the 1990s “were the first Tinder.” She also spoke about coming out publicly then and continuing to raise awareness today.

“I think it’s important that we don’t go backwards. It’s important that we stay focused,” lang said. “I think that’s why the Center is so very important because it is an extremely eclectic community—senior and youth and everything in between. It really is the vortex of the community and has been for 51 years. It is immeasurably important to offer a community for the disenfranchised.”

During his segment with Rapp, Cruz echoed that sentiment: “I feel the Center is like a starship. It is inhabited by these amazing, genius people who come together to save a community, and I’m inspired by the work that the Center does my entire life as an inhabitant of L.A. They have been here for me my entire adult life, and I couldn’t love them more.”


DJ Pierce, aka Shangela, recalled how actress Jenifer Lewis introduced him to the Center when he was working as her assistant.

“I saw the dedication she had to the Center and the belief she had in what they were doing,” said Pierce, who video conferenced from Texas. “I took a stand-up comedy class at Center. It led me to the Comedy Store on Sunset to all around the world.”

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, the first openly LGBT women elected to the nation’s Senate, called the Center’s work “pivotal in changing the world around us.”

“Right now, in the challenging times that we face with COVID, we recognize that the need for the Center’s services are only growing,” she pointed out. “I want to thank the Center for a half-century of advocacy, support, and resources for the LGBTQ community, and I look forward to seeing all of the transformative work you’ll continue to do in the years to come.”

Trans actor Brian Michael Smith of TV’s 9-1-1: Lone Star and Queen Sugar reminded viewers that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Center’s Trans Wellness Center located in Koreatown has remained open for essential services like food and hormone therapy.

 “Whether most people recognize it or not, the people representing the T in LGBT are some of the most at-risk members of our community,” Smith said.

Sia, Billy Porter, RuPaul and More Take Part

Other famous faces who shared their personal experiences with the Center, or who introduced segments highlighting various programs and clients, included Sia, Alexandra Billings, Billy Porter, Billy Eichner, Frankie Grande, Meredith Vieira, Carla Gugino, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Margaret Cho, Peter Paige, Gigi Gorgeous, Nats Getty, August Getty,  Coco Peru, Jay Leno, Bruce Vilanch, RuPaul, Pauley Perrette, Tyler Oakley, and Andrew Rannells.

Leno told a touching story from his childhood about why his father would always insist he wear a jacket and tie whenever the family went out to dinner.

“My dad would always say, ‘We want to show that we’re proud,’” Leno recalled. “To this day, whenever I watch a civil rights march or a gay pride parade or any kind of protest, I always look at the faces of people and see that same expression my dad had when he talked about being proud. Fight the good fight my dad used to say. Do what you can to help out.”

Queer as Folk alum Paige shared with viewers how the Center was there for him when he first arrived in Los Angeles 27 years ago.

“I was scared and alone and broke,” Paige said. “Someone suggested that I check out the Center to get some help. I did. I found a therapist there for $10 a week. It changed my life and it changed what I believed was possible for me. There’s a direct line from that scared boy to the man you see before you and it goes right through the Los Angeles LGBT Center. I am forever grateful.”


The Return of Ernestine the Telephone Operator

Lily Tomlin, a staunch Center supporter, used the telethon to step back into the hairdo of one of her most famous iconic characters: the brash, tough, and uncompromising telephone operator Ernestine.

According to the skit, Ernestine had left the telephone company and was an out lesbian helping out at the Center nowadays.

“A gracious hello. This is the LGBT Center. We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it,” chuckled Ernestine with her classic snort. “No, I don’t usually answer the phones here. I heard the Center was in additional need during the pandemic so, heroically, I stepped forward to man the boards. … Yes, I’m out and proud … spoken with pride and nothing to hide.”

Love in Action also featured powerful musical performances by Leslie Odom Jr., Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, Tonality, and Jenifer Lewis.


Grammy Award-winner Cyndi Lauper appeared in the show’s first half-hour to perform one of her biggest hits True Colors. She shared a story explaining how it became one of her signature songs.

“I first sang this song in 1986 for a friend of mine who was an LGBT youth who experienced homelessness when he was thrown out of his home at the age of 12,” Lauper explained. “For decades, when it comes to youth services, the LGBT Center has been giving young people, who have nowhere else to go, a home. In this age of COVID-19, we need the Center more than ever.”

Melissa Etheridge performed her classic hit Come to My Window, which she released in 1993 soon after coming out as lesbian.

“The generation before me didn’t always have the luxury of coming out and being accepted and even celebrated,” she shared. “So, they turned to the Center for support. Tonight, I sing for the countless doors and windows the Center has kept open for all the LGBT people of all stripes for more than five decades.”

In her remarks near the beginning of the telethon, Center CEO Jean explained how the pandemic impacted the Center, which has continued feeding and housing people and providing medical care and social and educational programming.

“It’s been really tough,” she admitted. “Non-profits all over town have been closing. Our Center has been determined to keep going. A third of our staff are essential first responders, and they have courageously been on the job every day providing medical care, mental health counseling, services for seniors and homeless youth, affordable housing, and more. We couldn’t stop those services—not when our community needs us more than ever.”

She added: “We’ve had to develop brand new programs to respond to the pandemic at a time when we’ve had to cancel every fundraising event this year.”

When asked what’s next for the Center, Jean responded: “We just have to keep on keeping on. More people are coming to us every day for help.”

Share this:

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

Related Posts

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

Comments are closed.

Upcoming Events

Apr 29
April 29 - June 24

A New Brain

May 13
May 13 - June 12

The Bottoming Process

Jun 9
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Youth PRIDE Prom!

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
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 🥰
Happy #Pride Sunday, fam! Bright and early this mo Happy #Pride Sunday, fam! Bright and early this morning in #SanFrancisco, 1,400 cyclists came together for the 28-year tradition known as #AIDSLifeCycle. A 545-mile bike ride from SF to #LosAngeles, ALC raises millions of dollars for the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s crucial, life-saving services. But ALC is so much more than a bike ride or a fundraiser—its participants have come to see it as a family reunion. That’s exactly what drew @CarlitoinLA (pictured) to the ride this year—after years of social distancing, he needed to dust off the cobwebs of his social life, meet new people, and be in community. Weekly rides and meetings with his ALC group, The Trudging Buddies, helped Carlos forge new bonds and hold space for conversations about his own journey. After immigrating to Los Angeles from México at 19, Carlos accessed our services at the Center, where he was diagnosed with HIV. “I knew nothing about it. In fact, I used to have really bad judgment towards people who were living with #HIV,” he says. “But then, I got my medication and attended support groups. If I would have known that this kind of love and community existed when I was first diagnosed, I wouldn’t have been so scared.” Carlos is riding to support the life-affirming services of the Center and the Foundation, and to pay respect to those we’ve lost along the way to HIV/AIDS. “I think of them every time I train,” he says. “I’m no longer embarrassed to say I’m living with HIV. It’s important for Latinos like me to break the stigma.” Head to our Highlights to see more from Day One of AIDS/LifeCycle. 📷 @christopher.arpr
We are disappointed at the anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrati We are disappointed at the anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations at Saticoy Elementary School. The rhetoric used by 'concerned parents' is deeply concerning, as it mirrors the dangerous misinformation campaigns launched against the LGBTQ+ community by far-right activists and religious extremists. The Pride celebration at the school was intended to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its families, and we firmly believe that families like Chief Impact Officer Terra Russell-Slavin's deserve representation and inclusion in classrooms and school events. As Russell-Slavin said, "My child should not be taught to be ashamed of his mothers. I am not a threat to anyone by loving my family." We stand with LAUSD and are ready to intervene in situations like these. We hope that the parents protesting Pride at Saticoy Elementary will come to an understanding that there is nothing dangerous about the LGBTQ+ community and that embracing love and acceptance is the best way to ensure safety and inclusivity for all.
Happy #Pride—or is it? This year, our community Happy #Pride—or is it? This year, our community is battling a backlash to the tune of 500+ pieces of anti-LGBTQ legislation, a misinformation campaign perpetuated by bad actors on the far- and religious right, and the backpedaling of support for Pride by corporations who have profited off our celebrations for the past decade. With our #CenterYourPride campaign, we’re proud to assert that LGBTQ+ people do not belong on the margins—that WE are the Center. And as long as our doors are open, your Center will always be here for you, as the largest #LGBTQ+ nonprofit in the world that provides more direct services to queer and trans people than any other organization. We’ll see you in the streets this season (and every other season). Let’s celebrate proudly together.
This year, we celebrate #Pride with a fierce sense This year, we celebrate #Pride with a fierce sense of urgency. We are the world’s largest direct service provider to LGBTQ+ people—so take it from us when we say Pride is a necessity. Our community is still being impacted by hatred, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, religious zealots, and institutions who discriminate against us. At the Center, we are Proud 365 days a year—because that’s the amount of days per year our doors are open. Happy #PrideMonth, and Happy Pride Always from the 800 employees, service providers, and frontline workers of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. We will always be here for you. 

🎥: 
@laurenfisherstudio @kazziechameleon @mad_maninc @mjlat
@wintersrockent
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.