For more than 50 years, the Los Angeles LGBT Center has been providing programs, medical care, and housing to LGBTQ+ people. It’s the largest LGBT center in the world, providing services to more than 50,000 people each month.The Center’s work is about much more than necessities like housing and healthcare though: it’s also about building community.
“It makes a world of difference to your experience as part of the LGBTQ+ community,” said Diego Martinez, the Center’s corporate relations manager. “To have a space where you see others that are like you, that look like you, that you can learn from, that you can engage with.”
Angel City has partnered with the Los Angeles LGBT Center since 2020, and in 2021 began supporting its Trans Pride initiative. ACFC also sponsored last year’s Pride Picnic (both in partnership with Heineken).
The community piece is what makes Angel City such a natural partner. Sport is a gathering place that ties families and communities together; men’s sports, where hypermasculinity is seen as a virtue and there are few openly queer athletes, can also be unwelcoming for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Women’s sports are different. Look in the stands at any NWSL game—not just in June—and you’re likely to see rainbow and trans pride flags dotting the crowd. The visibility of both those symbols and of LGBTQ+ athletes like Megan Rapinoe, Paige Nielsen, and Quinn sets the tone for the space: no matter your gender or orientation, you can belong here.
For many fans, the people they stand and chant with are like a family—and for some queer supporters, this is the first place they’ve been able to be fully themselves. “Angel City is the community and the world that has never existed, but we always dreamed of,” said Daisy Chavez, a member of PodeRosas, a supporters group “led by and for women and femmes of color,” according to the group.
“We're building that community that reflects people of color, women, children, nonbinary, transgender people,” Chavez continued.
For Anabel Martinez, also a PodeRosas member, her supporters group and the bigger Angel City community have helped her feel included for the first time in a sport she’s been around her whole life. “Growing up, soccer was something that my male family members did,” she said. “I wasn't really encouraged to play soccer. It was through joining PodeRosas and being part of a supporter group that I feel like I re-developed a relationship with soccer, and what it means to be a soccer fan.”
“What I really appreciate about the space PodeRosas has created—and just ACFC in general—is they're very inclusive,” she continued. “So I can be my full self. I'm a queer, Latina immigrant. So with all those aspects of who I am, I'm able to show up and take up space.”
It’s thanks to decades of struggle for rights and visibility that this community is even possible, and organizations like the Los Angeles LGBT Center have been an important part of that fight—and still is today. As much progress as cities like Los Angeles have made, the LGBTQ+ community is under attack in much of the country, with a wave of anti-trans and anti-gay legislation being passed in many states.
“We're very aware that in L.A., [we’re in a] bubble, but we're very cautious and aware that whatever happens outside of our bubble will directly impact LGBT people,” said Diego Martinez. “So as part of our policy department, we operate what we call the Resistance Squad, where we mobilize volunteers to engage in actions that impact policy decisions on the local, state, and federal level.'
Those calls to action often take familiar shape: phone banks and advice for people wanting to contact legislators. In some cases, though, the Center goes a step further. “We also operate what we call our Leadership Lab,” said Martinez. “We're able to do door-to-door outreach to folks in the community… These folks often don't know an LGBTQ person—they meet one when we show up to their door and spend the time to hear them out and educate folks, as long as they're willing to listen.”
Political advocacy is another thing the Los Angeles LGBT Center shares with Angel City and its supporters. “We are very intentional about bringing social justice issues into the space,” said Anabel Martinez. “[At the last home game], we were protesting gun violence. It's not just a space where we come and watch soccer, it's where we come and bring intention about what we stand for.”
Also core to the Center’s mission is its work on social services and housing, which impact the lives of thousands of people every year.
For youth clients, the Center offers critical help, including multiple layers of shelter, three meals a day, clothing; support groups; a charter high school, GED and college prep program; an employment preparation, training, and placement program; independent living skills building; medical care; and counseling. 'Our efforts are to provide youth a solid foundation to support their transition into adulthood.”
The Center also serves LGBTQ+ seniors through its senior program. The program provides affordable housing, housing navigation, legal aid, health, mental health, wellness, educational, and recreational services. 'A huge area of need for LGBTQ+ seniors is around housing. It's really challenging to find an affordable place,' said Martinez. 'So we rely on our housing navigators to help seniors connect with affordable housing and tap into government support.'
As important as those advocacy and social services missions are year round, right now it’s Pride month—it’s time to celebrate. Like last year, Angel City and Heinekenare again sponsoring Trans Pride LA, the world’s first trans pride celebration.
It's a three-day event from June 16–18 featuring a job fair, resource fair, workshops, and the Center's community forum series, Big Queer Convo. This year’s special guest is proud Latine/x nonbinary/gender fluid actor and activist Vico Ortiz, from the smash-hit HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death. Ortiz will be interviewed by actor Shaan Dasani (from the digital comedy series These Thems). The event wraps up with a VarieTy Show featuring a wide array of performers.
'After two years of virtual Trans Pride LA events, there is so much excitement to be welcoming everyone back to celebrate together in person,' said Martinez.
The Pride Picnic, on June 26 at 6–10 p.m., is the other big event ACFC and Heineken are co-sponsoring this year. The event, held at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, will feature live DJs, drag performances, food vendors, and giveaways.
June is only 31 days long, but the celebration, resistance, and community that are in focus during Pride month are year-round values for LGBTQ+ people—and season-long values for the ACFC family.
As PodeRosas member Alma de Jesus said, “My sister has children who identify as nonbinary, so I want to bring them to a space where they're safe. I want to bring my niece to a place where she sees that everyone belongs, and she can be on the pitch also.”