Louis Mangual and his husband, Kenneth Paul Hahn, decided to include the Center in their estate plan before Hahn’s death early last year.
“Kenneth and I witnessed the growth and the amazing work of the Center throughout the decades,” Mangual explained. “Before he passed away, we agreed that a great portion of our trust must be given to the Center. We felt that it is extremely import- and that the Center’s work continues to grow.”
The couple had been together for 40 years when they married in 2015. Nowadays, Mangual finds himself becoming more involved at the Center during difficult periods of his “crushing grief.”
“I’ve received grief counseling from professionals at the Center, which has helped me tremendously,” he said. “Everyone is so kind, welcoming, and supportive. I feel I’m home.”
It was in the fall of 1974 when Mangual went dancing at the Studio City nightclub Oil Can Harry’s and met Hahn for the first time. Their lives were changed forever.
“He came behind me and swept me off my feet with his fancy dancing!” he recalled. “I was hooked for life!”
Hahn was elected Los Angeles County Assessor for three terms before retiring in 2004. The couple then moved to Hawaii where they grew rambutan—a tropical fruit similar to lychee—on a 12-acre plot of land for four years.
Following their time in Hawaii, they went on to spend eight years in Seattle before returning to Southern California for the last few years of Hahn’s life.
“It may be hard to understand, but I love him more now than ever,” Mangual shared. “What a great, loving, kind, gentle man Kenneth was. He was my husband and best friend.”
Mangual, a native New Yorker, moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the High School of Fashion Industries in 1971. He went on to complete his Associate of Arts Degree at Los Angeles Community College while working with youth at-risk and substance abuse prevention programs in Watts and Compton. In 1973 he became the director of Pride House, the first adolescent residential drug treatment facility in West Hollywood.
In addition to being a Circle of Life member, Mangual now plans to become a Center volunteer. He is amazed at the Center’s growth, including the recent opening of the Anita May Rosenstein Campus which greatly expands services and affordable housing options for LGBTQ youth and seniors.
“I often experience joyful tears when I witness what this incredible Center has done, is doing, and will do,” Mangual said. “The Center is a powerful living symbol—locally and globally—of love, equality, creativity, intergenerational co-operation, and unity.”
