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.[2][3][4][5][6] Established in 1993, the center is headquartered within a 30,000 square feet (2,800m2) 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.[2][7][8]
The center hosts more than 60 regularly-meeting groups each month. Support, social, and educational groups focus on women, seniors, youth, men, the trans community, recovery, health, the arts, athletics, spirituality, games, and more. It is also a major site for HIV testing and prevention, education and counseling, and also offers holistic and comprehensive support programs for persons living with HIV/AIDS.[9][10][11][12][13] AIDS memorabilia that later would be displayed in the World AIDS Museum and Educational Center were first exhibited here.[14]
In 2015, Pride Center Florida generated more than $2 million in annual revenues; its main revenue comes from grants and government contracts of $1.2 million and $527,000 in annual members' dues and contributions. Net assets exceeded $6.2 million, including property and equipment valued at more than $5.3 million.[15] Programs are supported by a diverse group of local and national sponsors, such as Wells Fargo, JetBlue,[16]Whole Foods, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Ketel One, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, and AHF AIDS Healthcare Foundation.[2]
SAGE, the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older adults, is one of the center's most popular programs, including 398 active members with 175 LGBT seniors attending weekly get-togethers. In August 2016, SAGE estimated there are 43,000 LGBT older adults in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.[17]
The agency organizes an annual Tropical Plant Fair each spring, including several dozen vendor booths.[18]
Alan Schubert
The Pride Center grew out of the initial vision of founder Alan Schubert, one of the earliest public leaders of Fort Lauderdale's gay and lesbian community. Schubert died of cancer on June 1, 2016. He was 70 years old. Schubert's legacy includes the Pride Center where the main building bears his name and a long history of financial support and bringing community resources together on behalf of causes that included the Broward Gay and Lesbian Youth Group, the Child Care Connection, the Jewish AIDS Network, Broward Public Library, Human Rights Campaign, Center One and Tuesday's Angels.[19]
Upon his death, The Pride Center said:
His impact on this community and beyond is immeasurable. In 1993, Schubert--philanthropist and gay pioneer--conceived the idea for the then Gay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida. Alan determined that a safe community center in Fort Lauderdale could assist existing and new groups serving the LGBTQ communities. Twenty three years later this month, The Center continues to honor Alan's original vision. Alan and his husband Robert recently moved back to South Florida. Our Center family has enjoyed the opportunity to hear directly from Alan his joy at the growth and evolution of The Center. Our thoughts and prayers are with his partner Robert, their family and friends.
The effort to create affordable, supportive housing in Wilton Manors began in 2012 when City Commissioner Tom Green proposed development of affordable housing for the community's primarily LGBTQ seniors.[26][27] Three years later, the proposal won unanimous support from the City Commission to create 12,346 square feet of retail space and 130 affordable housing units within The Pride Center's five-acre campus.[2][28] Pride Center formally partnered with Carrfour to pursue funding, develop and operate the housing complex.[29]
Public Outreach
Since 2010, Pride Center Florida has published a quarterly newsletter, known as the Pride Center Voice. The newsletter is distributed in print and electronically. The organization also maintains an active social media presence, including on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.[2]
A gay village, also known as a gayborhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establishments, such as gay bars and pubs, nightclubs, bathhouses, restaurants, boutiques, and bookstores.
The LGBTQ community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality. LGBTQ activists and sociologists see LGBT community-building as a counterweight to heterosexism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, sexualism, and conformist pressures that exist in the larger society. The term pride or sometimes gay pride expresses the LGBT community's identity and collective strength; pride parades provide both a prime example of the use and a demonstration of the general meaning of the term. The LGBT community is diverse in political affiliation. Not all people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender consider themselves part of the LGBT community.
Fort Lauderdale is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, 30 miles (48 km) north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Florida. After Miami and Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale is the third-most populous city in the Miami metropolitan area, which had a population of 6,166,488 in 2019.
Wilton Manors is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Wilton Manors is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166,488 people at the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 11,426.
The World AIDS Museum and Educational Center, located at 1350 E Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, opened on May 15, 2014.
LGBT History Month is an annual month-long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, and the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. It was founded in 1994 by Missouri high-school history teacher Rodney Wilson. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community, and represents a civil rights statement about the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community. As of 2022, LGBT History Month is a month-long celebration that is specific to Australia, Canada, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Stonewall National Museum and Archives is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that promotes understanding through preserving, interpreting and sharing the culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their role in society. It owns and manages a library and archival collection and presents a series of public programs. SNMA has two small exhibition areas with changing exhibitions drawn primarily from its collections. Additionally, SNMA hosts a web-based LGBTQ timeline of American LGBTQ history, launched in 2021 and known as In Plain Sight. Although Stonewall's name is inspired by the Stonewall Inn where the 1969 Stonewall riots took place, the museum and archive has no direct connection with the New York location.
Many retirement issues for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBTQ) and intersex people are unique from their non-LGBTI counterparts and these populations often have to take extra steps addressing their employment, health, legal and housing concerns to ensure their needs are met. Throughout the United States, "2 million people age 50 and older identify as LGBT, and that number is expected to double by 2030", estimated in a study done by the Institute for Multigenerational Health at the University of Washington. In 1969, the Stonewall Riots marked the start of the modern gay rights movement and increasingly LGBTQ+ people have become more visible and accepted into mainstream cultures. LGBTQ+ elders and retirees are still considered a newer phenomenon creating challenges and opportunities as a range of aging issues are becoming more understood as those who live open lives redefine commonly held beliefs and as retirees newly come out of the closet.
Fight OUT Loud is a non-profit organization in the United States aimed to empower LGBT individuals. Fight OUT Loud was established in 2007.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Florida have federal protections, but many face legal difficulties on the state level that are not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity became legal in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas on June 26, 2003, although the state legislature has not repealed its sodomy law. Same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since January 6, 2015. Discrimination on account of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations is outlawed following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County. In addition, several cities and counties, comprising about 55 percent of Florida's population, have enacted anti-discrimination ordinances. These include Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and West Palm Beach, among others. Conversion therapy is also banned in a number of cities in the state, mainly in the Miami metropolitan area, but has been struck down by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In September 2023, Lake Worth Beach, Florida became an official "LGBT sanctuary city" to protect and defend LGBT rights.
This article concerns LGBT history in Florida.
Carrfour Supportive Housing is a nonprofit organization established in 1993 by the Homeless Committee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce. It develops, operates and manages affordable and supportive housing communities for low-income individuals and families in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Carrfour is Florida's largest not-for-profit supportive housing provider, housing more than 10,000 formerly homeless men, women and children in 20 communities throughout Miami-Dade County, assembling over $300 million of financing, tax credits and subsidies, and developing more than 1,700 affordable housing units since its founding.
The development of LGBT culture in Philadelphia can be traced back to the early 20th century. It exists in current times as a dynamic, diverse, and philanthropically active culture with establishments and events held to promote LGBT culture and rights in Philadelphia and beyond.
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.
Miami has one of the largest and most prominent LGBTQ communities in the United States. Miami has had a gay nightlife scene as early as the 1930s. Miami has a current status as a gay mecca that attracts more than 1 million LGBT visitors a year. The Miami area as a whole has been gay-friendly for decades and is one of the few places where the LGBTQ community has its own chamber of commerce, the Miami-Dade Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (MDGLCC). As of 2005, Miami was home to an estimated 15,277 self-identifying gay and bisexual individuals. The Miami metropolitan area had an estimated 183,346 self-identifying LGBT residents.
The Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival is the second oldest and second-largest pride parade in New York City. It is held annually in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights, located in the New York City borough of Queens. The parade was founded by Daniel Dromm and Maritza Martinez to raise the visibility of the LGBTQ community in Queens and memorialize Jackson Heights resident Julio Rivera. Queens also serves as the largest transgender hub in the Western hemisphere and is the most ethnically diverse urban area in the world.
Dr. Kim Fountain is the Deputy CEO of The San Diego LGBT Community Center. She was previously the Chief Operating Officer of the Center on Halsted, the Midwest's largest LGBTQ+ community center, located in Chicago, Illinois,. the executive director of the Pride Center of Vermont and the co-director for the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. Fountain has served on the New York State Crime Victims Board and is a trainer for the Office of Victims of Crime and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs' Reports Committee. She serves on the board of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.
John Cowperthwaite Graves was a professor, psychotherapist, singer, and philanthropist associated with the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement in Boston, MA and Fort Lauderdale, FL. He died on October 13, 2003, from heart failure at the age of 65.
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