| Founder: | Don Kilhefner, Morris Kight |
| Tax Id: | 95-3567895[1] |
| Status: | 501(c)(3) |
| Type: | Nonprofit organization |
| Employees: | 1,050[2] |
| Employees Year: | 2021 |
| Volunteers: | 1,530 |
| Volunteers Year: | 2021 |
| Location: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Leader Title: | Chief Executive Officer |
| Leader Name: | Joe Hollendoner[3] [4] |
| Leader Name2: | Susan Feniger |
| Leader Title2: | Co-chair |
| Leader Name3: | Frank D. Pond |
| Leader Title3: | Co-chair |
| Formerly: | The Gay Community Services Center, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center |
| Subsidiaries: | McCadden Campus LLC, AMR Campus QALICB Inc |
The Los Angeles LGBT Center (previously known as the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center) is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, social services, housing, and leadership and advocacy. The center is the largest facility in the world providing services to LGBT people.[5]
The center was founded in 1969, by gay and lesbian rights activists Morris Kight and Don Kilhefner, along with other activists.[6] [7] Originally called The Gay Community Services Center, the original center was located in an old Victorian house on Wilshire Boulevard and was the first nonprofit organization in America to have the word "gay" in its name.[8] In 1998, the organization named its library the Judith Light Library after one of its benefactors, actress Judith Light.[9] The current chief executive officer is Joe Hollendoner.[4]
On October 2, 2010, the center became the recipient of a $13.3million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families in order to create a model program for LGBTQ youth in foster care. It was the largest-ever grant by the federal government to an LGBT organization.[10] [11]
In 2016, Holly Woodlawn's estate founded the Holly Woodlawn Memorial Fund for Transgender Youth at the center, in order to benefit some of the center's programs, including Trans Pride L.A., Trans* Lounge, Transgender Economic Empowerment Project, and trans health care services.[12] Woodlawn was transgender herself.[12]
As a crowd of more than 200 gathered outside a June 2023 Glendale Unified School District Board of Education meeting, the Los Angeles LGBT Center joined organizations such as GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society, the Armenian American Action Network, Southern California Armenian Democrats in voicing support for the school district's LGBTQ+ policies.[13]
The center's website lists services, programs and activities they offer. These include youth, senior, transgender, survivor, medical, legal and housing services. They provide a number a programs including community & support groups, trainings and vocational programs, and they host various arts and events.[14]
The Los Angeles LGBT Center operates facilities in various Los Angeles locations: