Pridelines is a 501c(3) [1] nonprofit organization based in Miami, Florida, that serves as Miami - Dade County only LGBTQAI+ community center offering comprehensive services throughout the County. Pridelines headquarters is located in Liberty City [2] and has satellite locations in Miami Beach and Cutler Bay [3] . The organization has announced the opening of a housing facility in Overtown section of Miami [4] . Pridelines provides a variety of human services including a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community, housing, case management, mental health counseling, a clothing closet, showers, food pantry and daily hot meals, a clinic that includes providing the community with PrEP/PEP/ARV medications and more [5] .
Pridelines started in 1982 by Dr. Marilyn Volker and Peter Meyer and a group of Miami Dade College LGBTQ students in the wake of Anita Bryant and her threats to the LGBTQ community. Pridelines originally started as the Gay and Lesbian Group of Miami [6] . The group provided a peer-led/adult facilitate discussion group. The organization served as a support group where youth could understand challenges facing sexual identity and were given tools to grow. In 1996, the group was renamed Pridelines Youth services, Inc. to better represent the growth of the organization and its focus on being a supportive environment for those seeking to understand queer identities. [7]
In response to the HIV/AIDS crisis, Pridelines Youth Services, Inc. recognized its role in supporting and elevating community and begin to test community members for the virus. In 2024, Pridelines announced that it would not only test for HIV/AIDS/STIs but it would expand its services to include treatment, prevention, and providing community members with free health insurance. [8]
Over the years, the organization has received public support from Miami - Dade County, the city of Miami, and the city of Miami Beach. The city of Miami awarded the organization $50,000 to support its efforts [9] . Pridelines was recently noted as an important organization to support during Pride Month [10] .
In Fall 2023, Pridelines announced the hiring of Dr. Edward Summers, a higher education and nonprofit leader. The organization has opened three new locations this year and has opened a new housing facility [11] .
Center on Halsted is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) community center in Chicago, Illinois.
The World AIDS Museum and Educational Center, located at 1350 E Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, opened on May 15, 2014.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and advocacy services. As of 2024, AHF operates about 400 clinics, 69 outpatient healthcare centers, 62 pharmacies, and 22 Out of the Closet thrift stores across 15 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and 46 countries, with over 5,000 employees, and provides care to more than two million patients. The organization's aim is to end the AIDS epidemic by ensuring access to quality healthcare, including HIV and STD testing, prescription of medications like Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), and referrals to specialty pharmacies. AHF is the largest provider of PrEP in the United States, though its founder Michael Weinstein has received criticism for his past opposition to the drug.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, commonly called The Center, is a nonprofit organization serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) population of New York City and nearby communities.
Howard Brown Health is a nonprofit LGBTQ healthcare and social services provider that was founded in 1974. It is based in Chicago and was named after Howard Junior Brown.
AIDS Foundation of Chicago is a locally based, non-profit organization that advocates for HIV/AIDS prevention as well as serves as a general resource for the HIV/AIDS community. Founded in 1985, some of their better-known accomplishments include hosting fundraisers to support the distribution of HIV/AIDS related medications in the city, funding the Open Door Health Center, and launching their “Getting to Zero” plan. Their cause seeks to increase the amount of resources available to the HIV/AIDS community as resources are too few and far between. Similar to other city organizations focused on sexual health such as Howard Brown Health, AFC makes getting access to treatment easier for all patients, decreases the stigma around treatment, and promotes the awareness and acceptance of those who live with HIV and/or AIDS.
STOP AIDS Project (SAP) was a nonprofit organization which worked to prevent transmission of HIV among all gay, bisexual, and trans men in San Francisco, California, through multicultural, community based organising.
Mazzoni Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit health care provider in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that serves the LGBTQ community.
Aisha Diori is an Events Director, Community Mobiliser, HIV/AIDS Preventionist, educator, Talk Show Host, Event MC, Pan-Africanist, and has been named "Iconic Mother" in Ball culture. Her father is Abdoulaye Hamani Diori, a Nigerien political leader and business person, and her mother is Betty Graves, the first Ghanaian / Nigerian woman to own a travel agency in Nigeria.
The Pride Center of Vermont, formerly the RU12? Community Center, was founded by two students at the University of Vermont and Middlebury College in 1999. The organization was run by volunteers until the first Executive Director was hired in 2002. RU12? is the only non-profit organization mission-driven to serve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Vermonters of all ages. The mission of the organization is to celebrate, educate, and advocate with and for LGBTQ Vermonters.
Ruby Corado is an activist who founded Casa Ruby, a bilingual, multicultural LGBT organization in Washington, D.C. Established in 2012, Casa Ruby identifies its mission as "to create success life stories among Transgender, Genderqueer, and Gender Non-conforming Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual people." In July 2022, Corado was accused of mismanagement of Casa Ruby, which forced the organization to cease operations.
Metro TeenAIDS (MTA) was a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, in operation from 1988 to 2015. MTA addressed the severe HIV/AIDS epidemic in the National Capital region by focusing on the needs of children and youth. For more than 25 years, MTA provided a wide variety of HIV prevention services to youth, as well as services for youth affected by HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia and the surrounding area.
The Montrose Center is an LGBTQ community center located in Houston, Texas, in the United States. The organization provides an array of programs and services for the LGBTQ community, including mental and behavioral health, anti-violence services, support groups, specialized services for youth, seniors, and those living with HIV, community meeting space, and it now operates the nation's largest LGBTQ-affirming, affordable, senior living center in the nation, the Law Harrington Senior Living Center. It is a member of the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. It is in Neartown (Montrose).
Austin, Texas, has one of the most prominent and active LGBT populations in the United States. Austin was acclaimed by The Advocate in 2012 as part of its Gayest Cities in America, and was recognized by Travel and Leisure as one of America's Best Cities for Gay Travel. Much of Austin's gay nightlife scene is clustered around 4th Street. LGBT activism groups Atticus Circle and Equality Texas are headquartered in Austin.
The Pride Center at Equality Park is an LGBTQ+ community center in Wilton Manors, Florida, that serves Broward County, Palm Beach County, and Fort Lauderdale. The center provides information, news, and events that affect South Florida's LGBTQ community. Established in 1993, the center is headquartered within a 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) building with meeting and office space for individuals, programs, services, and organizations. The goal of the center is to empower the LGBT communities in South Florida.
David Fair is an American activist who has been a leader in the labor, LGBT, AIDS, homeless and child advocacy movements in Philadelphia, PA since the 1970s. He has founded or co-founded several advocacy and service organizations, including the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force (1977), the Philadelphia Gay Cultural Festival (1978), Lavender Health (1979), the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Union of the Homeless (1985), Philly Homes 4 Youth (2017), and the Philadelphia Coalition on Opioids and Children (2018), and led the creation of numerous local government health and human service initiatives, including the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (1987) and the Division of Community-Based Prevention Services (2001), the Parenting Collaborative (2003), and the Quality Parenting Initiative (2014) for the Philadelphia Department of Human Services.
The Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth (BAGLY) is a non-profit organization located in Boston that works to protect, expand, and raise awareness for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth (LGBTQ+). Founded by LGBTQ+ youth in 1980, it adopts a youth-led, adult-supported approach to better meet the varied needs of a wide demographic of LGBTQ+ youth in Greater Boston. BAGLY's stated goals are to create, sustain, and advocate for socially just and intersectional programs, policies, and services for the LGBTQ+ youth community, which they achieve through frequent community-based leadership development, health promotion, and social support programs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted inequities experienced by marginalized populations, and has had a significant impact on the LGBT community. Pride events were cancelled or postponed worldwide. More than 220 gay pride celebrations around the world were canceled or postponed in 2020, and in response a Global Pride event was hosted online. LGBTQ+ people also tend to be more likely to have pre-existing health conditions, such as asthma, HIV/AIDS, cancer, or obesity, that would worsen their chances of survival if they became infected with COVID-19. They are also more likely to smoke.
White Party Miami was an annual, LGBTQ-based event held in Miami, Florida between 1985 and 2019 to raise money for HIV/AIDS-related charities. Initially the White Party was a single formal evening event. By 1994 it had grown into White Party Week, six days of both officially-sponsored and independently-organized events on the party circuit. Miami's White Party has been described as the "crown jewel" of fundraising and as a "more elevated charity affair". It was highly successful as a fundraising event and inspired other AIDS fundraisers in the USA and abroad.
Edward Summers is the current Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Pridelines, Miami's only LGBTQ Community Center. He succeeded Victor Diaz-Herman after 15 years of service to Pridelines.