Los Angeles LGBT Center: A Longstanding Hub for LGBTQ+ Services and Advocacy

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a nonprofit organization serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people through programs that span health, social services, housing, and leadership and advocacy. Based in Los Angeles, it is described as the largest facility in the world devoted to providing services for LGBTQ+ people.

The organization traces its beginnings to 1969, when gay and lesbian rights activists Morris Kight and Don Kilhefner, together with other activists, established what was then called the Gay Community Services Center. Its first home was an old Victorian house on Wilshire Boulevard. The organization’s original name also marked a milestone in nonprofit history: it was the first nonprofit organization in the United States to use the word “gay” in its name.

Over time, the center developed beyond its original identity and adopted its current name, the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Its range of work reflects the varied needs of the communities it serves. Health programs form one part of that work, alongside assistance with social services and housing. The center also supports leadership and advocacy, giving its mission a civic and organizing dimension in addition to direct services.

The center’s history includes work focused on LGBTQ+ young people in foster care. In 2010, it received a five-year, $13.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. The funding was intended to create a model program for LGBTQ+ youth in foster care and was identified as the largest grant the organization had received at that point.

The organization’s cultural and archival presence includes the Judith Light Library. Named in 1998 after actress and benefactor Judith Light, the library is part of the center’s institutional history and reflects the role of records, knowledge, and community resources in LGBTQ+ life.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center remains a significant local institution because its work brings multiple forms of support under one organizational umbrella. Its history links early LGBTQ+ community organizing in Los Angeles with ongoing services, advocacy, and programs for people whose needs may extend across health, housing, social support, and leadership. Joe Hollendoner is identified as the center’s chief executive officer.

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Further links listed by the Wikipedia page (not independently checked): - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/los-angeles-lgbt-center-rosenstein-campus_n_5d0281d1e4b0985c4199cd08 - https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf9k4009gs/ - https://www.losangelesblade.com/2018/05/29/los-angeles-lgbt-center-making-more-history-visually/ - https://isni.org/isni/0000000086813176 - https://viaf.org/viaf/125805060 - https://www.losangelesblade.com/2019/04/04/la-lgbt-centers-ambitious-anita-may-rosenstein-campus-opens/ Image rights Photograph description: For the 2011 Los Angeles Pride, I marched with a pan-Asian delegation, to show my support for LGBT rights in Asian communities of Southern California. This small delegation is waiting next to me. It is Pink Pistols, a pro-gun LGBT group with conservative political views. It is centered around the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which establishes bearing of arms as a basic right Creator: InSapphoWeTrust from Los Angeles, California, USA. License: CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0). Original image page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APink_Pistols_(5827577938).jpg. The image was resized for display; no other changes were made.