Predominantly made up of Black and brown communities, South Los Angeles has long been overlooked—not only by Pride organizers, but by community organizations and service providers as well. The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s community center in the area, Center South, has spent the last four years working to change that, by offering grocery distribution, HIV testing, and more.

Part of that effort includes supporting this year’s South LA Pride, which boasts food, shopping, live performances, and the Outside Kiki Ball (presented by the Center), a colorful and lively parade featuring local organizations, community groups, and allies marching in support of LGBTQ+ rights.

Below, Center South staff explain what makes this community so special and share what South LA Pride means to them.

Steven Campa

Senior Program Manager

How long have you been at Center South?

Last week was actually my six-year anniversary here with the Center. I worked in Hollywood for about two years out of the Las Palmas site, then I became one of the first employees here at Center South.

Can you share a little about the work you do?

I oversee three HIV prevention and education programs. All of them specifically target men and people of color within South Los Angeles. We recently switched to diversify the population that Center South serves. Even though the programs are housed here and cater to a specific demographic, those aren’t the only folks coming in to access our services. So, we’re looking at ways to bring the work we’re doing—our clothing closet, farmers market, computer lab—to the whole community.

We started our grocery distribution with about 25 dry food boxes and grocery bags for the community—now we’re up to 125. We’re constantly growing, and we’ve been surprised by how much the community needed us. Being the Los Angeles LGBT Center, we weren’t sure how folks in South LA—which is so different from Hollywood and West Hollywood—would react. So we made sure to be present but not make folks feel uncomfortable coming into our space. We made sure to meet them where they were at, and the community has been very receptive.

What are some things that are special or unique about South LA compared to other parts of LA?

I think it’s the folks here. The community is so close-knit, and people know each other. A few years ago, we did an event at the park up the street, and everyone knew about it through word of mouth. There are so many different walks of life within the community, with all ages and demographics.

What does “South LA Pride” feel like to you?

It’s a different approach to life, rooted in the way people in this community live. People in these spaces understand that not everybody is at the same place in their journey. People coming to South LA Pride understand that some folks might not be in a place other people expect them to be. I think about this person—a young queer person in this community—who used to come to Center South a few times a week but wasn’t out to his family. He didn’t know exactly how to identify or express himself, but he came with us to Pride last year in this full-on rainbow outfit. That’s what I mean; you may not know where you’re at in your journey, but we’re going to respect that. 

Menty Ayalew

Site Manager

How long have you been at Center South?

I’ve been with Center South for a little over two years. When I first got here, it was much a smaller team, but there’s been a lot of expansion recently. It’s definitely been a roller coaster but a fun one.

Can you share a little about the work you do?

I oversee all of the clinical, mental health, primary care, STI testing, rapid HIV testing components of this site, in collaboration with the program side, led by Steven. This work, at least for me, really has a sense of purpose. Every single day, we are having an impact on someone’s life, big or small. Especially here, we often see people from the community come in and say, “I’m not LGBT, but can you help me?” And a lot of the time we can. I think that’s so important.

Are there any interactions you’ve had with members of this community that really stick with you?

For me, it’s whenever folks come in and they’re just like, “I was just told to come here because I identify as LGBTQ+.” A lot of the time, they’re not asked any further questions about what they need or what they’re looking for. People just hear LGBTQ+ and send them here. So, when they walk through our doors and tell us about their needs—whether it’s immigration assistance or HIV care—I think those are the moments that always stick with me. Someone tried to pigeonhole them based on their identity, but once they’re here, we see them as a whole person and are able to get them the care they need.

Irvin Jerez

Outreach Supervisor

How long have you been at Center South?

I started here in May 2022. One day, I was going to the Crenshaw mall to get some food after some devastating news at my previous job, and I saw the sign outside. I saw “Los Angeles LGBT Center,” and I thought it was so crazy to have that type of space here in South LA. I grew up here, and we never had that type of space. So that same day, I went back home, looked up what opportunities there were, and I’ve been just thriving ever since.

What are some things that are special or unique about South LA compared to other parts of LA?

As someone who grew up here, I often feel like people outside of the community look down on this space, or have certain ideas about the people in this community, what they can achieve and what they can’t achieve. There’s so much here that other people are just missing out on. There’s so much culture, so much love and community.

What are you most looking forward to from South LA Pride?

My favorite thing every year is just seeing queer joy. Honestly, full-heartedly, that’s my answer. Just being able to see folks from this community have the space to freely express themselves. A lot of people don’t have access to that on a normal everyday basis. So that’s always my favorite thing about Pride season, having this very intentional space for the LGBTQ+ community to come together, have a good time, and be free.

Brandon Silva Flores

Program Supervisor

How long have you been at Center South?

I’ve been with the Center since 2021, and I love it. I feel like my work serves a purpose. Every day that I come in, I’m making a change. I’m from South Central; I’ve grown up here since I was one. It’s so rewarding to be at a place where I’m giving back to my own community.

What are some things that are special or unique about South LA compared to other parts of LA?

Just being able to grow up in my community with Latino and Black individuals who share similar paths and similar histories. Growing up and seeing the struggles that we face day-to-day as people of color, and now being able to find a path that enables me to give back in whatever ways I can, is just so rewarding. It even motivated me to go back to school. I had dropped out a couple years back, and this job led me back to it. I’m studying public health so I can keep bringing funding to the community and keep giving back.

Cynthia Olmos

Outreach Specialist

How long have you been at Center South?

I started working at the Center a little over a year ago. Before, I was doing more HIV testing and counseling for clients who come in to get tested, but now I’m more on the programming side of things. I host our weekly MOCHA—Men of Color for Healthier Alliances—mixer, which is one of our social groups. I also facilitate the Goddess Circle, which is for women specifically here in South LA.

Are there any interactions you’ve had with members of this community that really stick with you?

As a counselor, I had a client who came in to get tested for HIV for the first time. As their counselor, I was, really, the first person they opened up to about their health concerns and sexual behaviors—really personal stuff that they hadn’t shared with anyone before. It really showed how important it is to have this Center here in the community. Maybe people come in just for testing, but once they’re here they see all these other ways we can help.

What does “South LA Pride” feel like to you?

Community. That’s what first comes to mind. South LA represents a lot of little neighborhoods and communities, but Pride really means bringing people together and embracing all of us as we are. It’s showing others that it’s okay to be your genuine self and be celebrated for that.

Kidron Fellows

Program Coordinator/Outreach Specialist

How long have you been at Center South?

I actually just reached five years. I started off in West Hollywood as an HIV tester, and then I transferred here to South LA when they first opened. Eventually, an opportunity came in to be a coordinator and I was just like, “Okay, let’s give that a try.” I’ve been a coordinator for the past three years, and we’re loving life.

What are some things that are special or unique about South LA compared to other parts of LA?

Well, all of LA is so special to be sure, but this community has an amazing sense of resilience. In the past four years I’ve been at this location, I’ve seen a lot of people grow and overcome a lot—dealing with homelessness, losing a job, or feeling isolated. The one thing that always stands out is that this is only the start of them finding their sense of community, taking charge of their health, and getting linked to mental health services.

What does “South LA Pride” feel like to you?

I would say “community.” That’s the main word that comes to mind. It’s the community coming together in unity. Just having a Pride event here in the first place is a big step and a big statement. It’s showing that the community here that we’re all accepted. That’s what it feels like to me.

Arlene Stevenson

Program Coordinator

How long have you been at Center South?

It is going to be eight years at the Center this month. I actually started as a security guard, and I worked my way up. I worked the front desk for Health Services in Hollywood and behind-the-scenes doing the phones for a long time. I spent a lot of time in Mental Health Services, and that was so eye-opening to see the impact that has on people. Then, I moved on and got certified to do HIV testing and ended up here.

It felt like the people who work for the Center weren’t just doing this for a paycheck. We’re doing this to help somebody like us, filling those gaps where we didn’t have support. This is the first job that I’ve ever actually worked out where everybody was genuinely happy to come to work and serve their community. We’ve been the people who needed help, so we know how to extend that help.

What are some things that are special or unique about South LA compared to other parts of LA?

I live in this neighborhood. My son goes to school in this neighborhood. He has his daycare in this neighborhood. A lot of my family is in this area. A lot of my family who are LGBTQ+ are in this area. It’s very heartwarming to let them know, “Hey, you don’t have to make it all the way out to Hollywood to get services.” We’ve had people who come in, and when they leave they have a different respect for not only the community and this location.

What does “South LA Pride” feel like to you?

It feels amazing, because I feel like it’s long overdue. There are LGBTQ+ people everywhere, but we’ve always had to travel somewhere else to be involved. So to have a spotlight here and to show that we’re celebrated around here as well is an amazing experience. You don’t have to make it to Hollywood or to Long Beach, you can be celebrated in your own backyard. It’s an amazing thing. It’s like coming out to family, and they’re giving you that embrace.

Darren Daniels-Stokes

Linkage to Care Specialist

How long have you been at Center South?

10 months, and it’s been a dream come true.

Can you share a little about the work you do?

Day-to-day, I’m talking to clients who want to transfer their care back to the Center or are coming to the Center for the first time. I assist with scheduling their appointments, and sometimes chat with patients who test positive for HIV about what it means to be positive and make sure we get them into care. Besides that, I also co-host a group called Shades of Community and a weekly HIV-positive group called Positive Vibes. 

I think back to when I was first diagnosed and trying to get into care. Luckily, I was able to get in to see a doctor with no issues, so it’s amazing to get to be that hand for others. It’s full-circle for me.

What are some things that are special or unique about South LA compared to other parts of LA?

There’s no place like it. I’m from here, a little bit deeper into South Central. Tourists come to LA to see Hollywood or Santa Monica, but I always say, if you want to experience the real LA, you’ve got to come to the ghetto. You can experience literally all cultures living together in South LA. There are so many hidden pockets with these really vibrant communities. It’s a wonderland. 

Rachel Gomez

Clinic Liaison

How long have you been at Center South?

Almost four months, so I’m still pretty new. But it’s been great. Everybody is so welcoming here. It’s a great environment. Everyone is welcome no matter who you are—staff or clients. I really love being part of the Center and that atmosphere.

What are some things that are special or unique about South LA compared to other parts of LA?

This is home to me. I love this place so much. A lot of us are lower income and don’t have transportation to get to Hollywood to access the Center’s services. I’m just so grateful that people here have their own space in our community to get those same opportunities. You hear a lot of bad things about our community, but there’s so much more good. A lot of people don’t understand that. Living here, you see how much community means to the people in this area.

What does “South LA Pride” feel like to you?

It feels like having a home and a family where we all can come together just to have fun. I feel like I don’t have any other way to explain it. It’s just home.

Luna Fiumara

Health Education Specialist

How long have you been at Center South?

I actually started here in January, so I’m still fairly new. But it’s been a good tradition, coming from Florida.

Are there any interactions you’ve had with members of this community that really stick with you?

A huge part of my job is working the sexual health hotline, so I field a lot of incoming calls from people looking to get advice or assistance, and it’s been super rewarding to be able to offer help. I recently had a call from someone who disclosed that they were sexually assaulted, and I was so glad to be able to help them through such a hard time of their life.

What does “South LA Pride” feel like to you?

I would say resilience, for sure. It’s definitely like a different demographic here than in the rest of LA, and this community definitely faces a unique set of challenges. Having the resilience to step out and be yourself and be open is so beautiful.

Tracy Jemison

Patient Services Specialist

How long have you been at Center South?

I started here in June of last year, so it’s been just about a year so far. I like getting to be that first impression, the friendly face that people encounter first when they walk through the door. I get to provide that calm, reassuring interaction for that person and get them set up for treatment or whatever they need. Sometimes people feel uncomfortable asking for what they need, and I get to be the one to make them feel at home.

What does “South LA Pride” feel like to you?

There’s a sense of being in community that I love about Pride. I think it’s so important to be seen, because we know there are people who do not feel safe coming out. So I love being part of that very loud, very public celebration of who we are. For me, that just inspires a really deep feeling of community that I look forward to every year.

Photos by Max Hemphill.

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An annual Pride celebration organized by the Center’s Senior Services department, Senior Prom gives older adults the opportunity to relive their prom experience as their authentic selves, with a partner of their choice. For many older adults who didn’t get the chance to attend prom as teenagers due to fears of harassment or discrimination, the event is a judgment-free space to eat, drink, dance, and cut loose with friends.

“A lot of Pride celebrations aren’t necessarily the greatest for folks that are older to get to and engage in,” Kiera Pollack, Director of Senior Services, said in an interview with the Washington Post, noting the inaccessibility of outdoor events like parties or parades. “To feel like they’re still able to celebrate being part of the community is really important.”

“It’s a wonderful thing to be in a place where you’re totally accepted for who you are.”

Andre Simpson, Senior Services client

“A lot of elders in the LGBTQ community have survived a lot, and still their spirits are happy. They’re still joyful inside. They have not been destroyed by life’s disappointments,” said Andre Simpson. “It’s a wonderful thing to be in a place where you’re totally accepted for who you are.”

Guests were provided free transportation from the Senior Center at the Anita May Rosenstein Campus in Hollywood to the L.A. Zoo, where the dance was held under the stars at the Treetop Terrace. 

Ivy White, who attended Senior Prom for the first time last year, said she now looks forward to the event as a rare opportunity for all of the seniors to gather in one place and celebrate the tight-knit community they’ve formed through other Senior Services programs and activities.

“I outlived my other family,” said first-time Senior Prom attendee Kenneth Jimerson. “I was diagnosed with HIV when I was 26, and I’m now 65. I outlived my siblings and my parents; I only wish they could’ve gotten the medical care that I’ve had. The Center makes sure I get that care. They make sure I eat healthy, exercise, and they always invite me out to events—so many that I can’t even attend them all. It’s really amazing.”

“I’ve been to many, many Senior Proms,” said Hermina Ban, who’s been involved in Senior Services activities “practically since before the turn of the century. Ban the friends she’s made through the program have become like a new family to her at this stage in her life. 

“This is, really, my second home,” she said. “I’m so grateful that they’re here and that the Center has so many activities that allow me to grow and engage with new people.”

Photos by Jordan Doyel and Maxwell Poth.

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Operated by one of the Center’s community partners, Community Health Project LA, the vending machine allows members of the community to freely access Narcan (also known as naloxone) and test strips to help combat the rising rates of opioid deaths in the community. 

For more information about the Center’s substance use and recovery services, click here or call 323-993-7500.

Where did the idea for a harm reduction vending machine come from?

The philosophy of harm reduction itself comes from sex workers and people who use drugs, which instructs the community how to best provide help while respecting each person’s bodily  autonomy. The Center was approached by one of our community partners, Community Health Project LA (CHPLA), to house one of their harm reduction vending machines. CHPLA has been bringing harm reduction services, syringe access and outreach to communities in LA since 1992, including to our own Center community with syringe access and drug testing every Thursday and Saturday. 

How does the vending machine work? What are the hours it is available to access?
The vending machine works just like any other vending machine, with the exception that it is delivered without cost! It is available to access whenever the front doors of the Center are open at our McDonald/Wright location. 

Where can I learn how to use testing strips and Narcan?

Opioid overdose response training is now a part of any Basic Life Support training. However Narcan is designed to be used easily via nasal administration, and we want to empower our community to respond safely and effectively.

Watch • 2:40

How to use naloxone

Watch • 2:40

How to use naloxone

Why is it important to have these resources available to the community?

There is an increasing need for opioid overdose prevention due to overdose numbers only increasing the past two decades. Nearly 108,000 people died in the USA of drug overdoses in 2021, nearly 50% higher than in 2019, and approximately two-thirds of those deaths involved fentanyl or another synthetic opioid, with lack of harm reduction programs for communities. The quantifiable need to make naloxone readily available, low barrier and needs-based access constructed on equity. We are all impacted by this wave of overdose death, equipping our community with one of the most effective antidotes only makes sense. 

What other substance use and recovery services does the Center provide? How can I make an appointment?

The Center has a wide variety of support for people who use drugs regardless of situation or goals. We have one-on-one counseling, group therapy, medication assisted therapy, harm reduction appointments, intensive outpatient programs with evening hours available.

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“Black people still are not free,” Cullors said in an interview at a recent Center event commemorating the Juneteenth holiday. “I appreciate that Juneteenth has been codified as a holiday, because it forces everyone to confront it. It allows for a more rigorous conversation about anti-Black racism and its impact—not just on Black people, but the entire country.”

In order to achieve the goal of liberation for all people, we will need to harness the power of our imagination to dream of a new world, Cullors said. LGBTQ+ people, who have long been marginalized by society and forced to create their own networks and systems of support, are especially primed for this work.

“Queerness and transness and abolition, to me, they’re all cut from the same cloth,” she said. Read more from Cullors below.

What does Juneteenth mean to you in your work as an abolitionist? 

Juneteenth is a promise. It’s not freedom. Yes, we were no longer enslaved on Juneteenth, 1865, but Black people still are not free. I appreciate that Juneteenth has been codified as a holiday, because it forces everyone to confront it. It allows for a more rigorous conversation about anti-Black racism and its impact—not just on Black people, but the entire country. Anti-Black racism is, really, the reason we don’t have real democracy in this country. 

Juneteenth, to me, is this continuous conversation and practice that pushes us to dream about what our freedom looks like—what abolition really looks like. Because if abolition happened on June 19, 1865, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But it didn’t fully happen, so Juneteenth is a promise of what’s to come.

Juneteenth is a promise. It’s not freedom.

Patrisse Cullors

In the context of the work that’s left to be done, what is the difference between activism and abolition?

Anyone can be an activist. Everybody. Activism isn’t actually based on your politics. Because you can be an activist for what happened on January 6th. You can be an activist against jail expansion. “Activist” is really a term for anybody who wants to be active in their community. An abolitionist is someone who wants to abolish the police and prison state. Someone who wants to imagine a new world that we can all exist in. One that centers care, love, and healing. Full stop.

What role does imagination play in abolition work?

It’s the center of everything. Our imagination is the center. We have to remember: Someone imagined handcuffs. Someone imagined sirens and a jail cell, and then they built it. So, we can’t allow their imagination to inform ours. We have to dream and imagine something different than what currently exists. In fact, many of the things that currently exist are new. Industrialization, capitalism, these are new things. Prisons and jails, these are new things. And we’ve seen them fail epically. So, our job is to imagine what else is possible: new relationships, new ways of being together, new ways of institutionalizing care and love. The abolitionist imagination is at the center of all of this. 

How does abolition intersect with queer liberation?

When we’re thinking about queerness, specifically around challenging heteronormativity and the ways we’ve been shaped to believe, we have been trained to believe in the nuclear family as the model for our wholeness. Queerness is a portal into the lives that we can actually live. For me, queerness is about building our chosen family. It’s about building our community. To me, queerness is about challenging the normative systems that exist, like the police state, like the prison state. Queerness is and has always been the portal into a new way of imagining my life.

It’s the same thing at the intersection of abolition and queerness. Queerness is a portal into imagining a new world, a new way of living our lives and being in community together. It’s why I think so many queer people and trans people actually believe in abolition. It’s not this foreign concept because we are already living outside of the norm. Queerness and transness and abolition, to me, they’re all cut from the same cloth.

Queerness and transness and abolition, to me, they’re all cut from the same cloth.

Patrisse Cullors

How does an abolitionist practice self care? Is that inherently practiced in the work as a form of service to others? Or is it more intimate? 

I’m a big fan of building out collectives and institutions that center the care of the human beings within it. I’m not a big fan of the term self-care. I like the term collective care, because it really puts the onus on the collective to take care of each other. ButI believe in therapists—culturally competent therapists, acupuncturists, any way that we can cope with living in the hellscape that we live in right now.

A lot of these generative practices like therapy, somatic therapy, reiki, acupuncture, they create more spaciousness in our body to tap into something different than what we know and experience. And it’s often a push away from the medical industrial complex. While I am grateful for the concept of Western medicine, I think the reliance on it and the dependence on it is squarely about capitalism. Having access to alternatives that help us access our bodies differently is very encouraging to me. I used to say that every Black person, as part of our reparations package, should have access to free therapy for the rest of our lives and all generations to come.

What would be your message to the next generation of abolitionists?

I would say that the role of abolition is so, so critical for the next generation. There was a time when very few people identified as abolitionists, but I’m seeing it more and more. I’m starting to see the fruits of the abolitionists labor that so many of us have worked for. So, I would say for this next generation, keep going. Keep striving, keep pushing. We will live in a world where police and prisons are not in existence anymore. There was a time when we couldn’t imagine that slavery wouldn’t exist. There will be a time when police and prison surveillance borders don’t exist.

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“This feels so amazing. I feel like I have been in this very room watching panels very similar to this for as long as I can remember,” Gottmik said during the evening’s keynote conversation with journalist and podcaster Tre’Vell Anderson. Other guests throughout the evening included artist and activist Love Bailey, celebrated trans photographer Texas Isaiah, and former Youth Services client of the Center, Max Figgy.

The Trans Town Hall was hosted by Sydney Rogers, a.k.a Miss Barbie-Q, program manager of the Center’s Transgender Economic Empowerment Project (TEEP).

Gottmik, a drag performer and makeup artist, broke boundaries as the first trans man to perform on RuPaul’s Drag Race in Season 13. He returned to the franchise for the ninth installment of All Stars, which saw the queens competing for charity for the first time. Gottmik chose to compete on behalf of Trans Lifeline, which provides peer support and crisis counseling for trans and gender nonconforming people in the U.S. and Canada.

“I think trans people are the most magical people in the world,” he said. I think we literally, from day one, fight just to be us—just to start from ground zero, basically. … So we end up being the dopest people in the room. Trans people should be the leaders of everything, if you ask me.”

His goal for his appearance on Drag Race this time around was to tell his story via drag, Gottmik said, which included a high-fashion top surgery look that made waves online and in right-wing media.

“I think I just did it in a really beautiful and refined way, so it freaks conservatives out because it’s so gorgeous,” he said. “You can’t deny that. They’re freaking out like, What are you doing to our children?! It’s too beautiful! And, baby, it is beautiful, and your children are just fine knowing that they can do whatever the fuck they want to do with their bodies.”

It’s worth it to incite the wrath of far-right figures and internet trolls because trans kids “are looking to us to be strong and to fight this fight … to pave the way for them,” Gottmik said. “I find strength in that.”

He hopes that people who encounter his art—trans people specifically—feel empowered to live unapologetically and find strength in their authentic selves: “It’s really powerful to just walk into a room and be like, ‘Hey, I’m trans and I am not going anywhere. Get into it or get lost.’”

In addition to the Trans Town Hall, this year’s TPLA celebrations included a welcome mixer; a line-dancing lesson by Stud Country instructors; and the Saturday’s Trans Pride Festival, featuring 40+ market vendors, portrait studio by photographer Devyn Galindo, a Trans Pride Talent Showcase, and more.

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The entire evening was hosted by Sydney Rogers, a.k.a Miss Barbie-Q, program manager of the Center’s Transgender Economic Empowerment Project (TEEP).

“I think trans people are the most magical people in the world,” Gottmik said during the evening’s keynote conversation with journalist and podcaster Tre’Vell Anderson. “I think we literally, from day one, fight just to be us—just to start from ground zero, basically. … So we end up being the dopest people in the room. Trans people should be the leaders of everything, if you ask me.”

Love Bailey, who successfully advocated against anti-LGBTQ+ policies in the conservative town of Temecula, CA, was presented with the Community Hero Award. She sat down for a conversation with journalist Kaleef Starks covering her activism and the queer “sanctuary” she created for her community in Temecula, Savage Ranch.

“Nina Simone said it best: Artists’ duties are to reflect the times,” said Bailey. “If we’re given this privilege and this platform and we don’t advocate for change against the oppressor, What are you doing with your life? What are you doing with your existence?”

Texas Isaiah, a celebrated photographer known for his intimate portraits of Black and transgender people, was honored with the Visionary Award and participated in a Q&A with his partner, Reu Balenciaga. The duo spoke about how he empowers trans and nonbinary people through photography, capturing moments of rest, passion, and love.

“Photography—although historically it has been a tool of violence—I think that it is also a space for us to curate self-actualization within our beauty and within how we exist in the everyday,” he said. “Because we are the first ones to wake up to ourselves, and I’m a firm believer that the most important person to tell oneself that they are beautiful has to be you.”

In addition to the Trans Town Hall, this year’s TPLA celebrations included a welcome mixer; a line-dancing lesson by Stud Country instructors; and the Saturday’s Trans Pride Festival, featuring 40+ market vendors, portrait studio by photographer Devyn Galindo, a Trans Pride Talent Showcase, and more. More than 1,500 Angelenos joined TPLA across both days of programming.

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“It blows my mind to think that Trans Pride is in its 25th year. It’s such a huge milestone,” said Gina Bigham, organizer of Trans Pride LA and manager of the Center’s Trans*Lounge program. 

“I know we live in very difficult times where our safety and future feel under attack,” Bigham said. “Trans Pride is a space created especially for our gender-expansive community to feel safe and be among other like-minded individuals on the same journey…everyone who comes through our doors will be treated with respect and dignity.”

As it was from the very beginning, TPLA remains completely free to attend, welcoming community members from all over Southern California to connect with other trans and gender-expansive people and get linked to local resource and service providers.

Emilio Gabriel Caraballo, who has been attending Trans Pride LA since he first started receiving hormone therapy at the Center in 2016, held up Trans Pride LA’s inclusivity as the key to its continued success.

“I make the trip every year from Orange County. This is the safest I’ve ever felt at a Pride event. For me, it’s Trans Pride forever,” he said. “I love that we offer free entry, free food, and community services, because that’s how we’re keeping the vision of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera alive. That’s the main ingredient … taking care of one another.”

I make the trip every year from Orange County. This is the safest I’ve ever felt at a Pride event. For me, it’s Trans Pride forever.

Emilio Gabriel Caraballo

Many who attended this year’s festivities have been attending for multiple years, including Carlista Termini, who came out as trans just over six years ago. Termini has attended every Trans Pride LA since—even through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It is my favorite time of the year,” she said. “I tell people I look forward to this more than I do Christmas, because this is the one time when I get to celebrate myself and my community, and just be in a state of love and compassion with all of us together.” 

Others, like Hana Gemini Leyland, experienced their first Trans Pride LA this year and found a new thing to look forward to each June. “I’m already sad about it being over, and I’m already excited about it happening again,” she said. “Earlier, I was walking past somebody, and I heard them say ‘trans experience.’ If I were out and about in the world, I would be like, I have to talk to these people, because it’s such a small pocket. But today, everything is a trans experience—360 degrees of panoramic Dolby surround sound transness. Today is amazing.”

“This is my first Trans Pride, and it’s amazing,” said Morgan Hennessy. “I’ve been searching for something like this for a really long time. I didn’t know that it existed until literally last week, so it’s really comforting to have a space dedicated just for the community to connect, make friendships, and see each other in an environment where we feel affirmed.”

That feeling of affirmation and sense of community was repeatedly highlighted by attendees. In a time where trans people and the LGBTQ+ community at large are frequent targets of restrictive government policies and hateful political rhetoric, Trans Pride LA stands out as a much needed safe haven for the community.

I’m 31 years old, and I’m alive for the first time,” he said. “I’m turning 1, essentially. I’m alive thanks to the Center.

Cruz Reyna Ortiz

“[Attending Trans Pride LA] was the best thing I did last year, and it’s gonna be the best thing I did this year,” said DeDe Douglas. “I feel like a human being and that I have every right to fucking exist. I have so many allies and such a community here, and it’s the best thing in the world.”

Cruz Reyna Ortiz, first time Trans Pride LA attendee, began his transition last year with the help of the Center. “I’m 31 years old, and I’m alive for the first time,” he said. “I’m turning 1, essentially. I’m alive thanks to the Center.”

“We’re taught to stifle joy—everybody is taught to stifle joy, but us even more so as [trans people] because we are the purest expression of joy, and I think that scares people,” said Ortiz. “But right now I can dance, I can be stupid, and I can drink something and have fun safely because of the Los Angeles LGBT Center and Trans Pride.”

Over 1,500 Angelenos attended the two-day TPLA celebration, which culminated in a street fair-style festival.

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This year’s event bore the theme Rodeo Renaissance, a nod to Beyoncé’s hit albums, Renaissance and Cowboy Carter. Youth and clients took to the dancefloor in their most dazzling prom outfits—inspired by Western attire and disco elements like glitter and chrome accents—to show off their best moves.

Amid the dancing and buckin’, guests let their creativity shine, creating beautiful pink flower bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages with flowers provided by the Bouqs Company. The event also included a bedazzle-your-own-swag station, where attendees could adorn their outfits to shine as bright as they do.

Throughout the night, prom goers filled Pride Hall at the Anita May Rosenstein Campus with fun, love, and laughter. The free event featured delicious catering from the Center’s Culinary Arts program and Sprinkles Cupcakes, as well as a portrait studio, live DJ, raffles, and gift bags from NYX Cosmetics.

Photos by Nichelle Dailey and Kolby Hill. Additional Youth Pride Prom sponsors included, Wella, ShoeDazzle, and GUESS.

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The program will enlist four Southwestern Law School students to assist with asylum applications and other legal matters, including employment authorization documents, travel permits, DACA applications, and adjustment of status applications for those granted asylum. The clinic is set to launch in Fall 2024.

“The Asylum Law Clinic is a huge step in training law students to advocate effectively for marginalized groups,” said Andrea Ramos, Director of the Immigration Law Clinic at Southwestern. “Our curriculum emphasizes both the knowledge and compassion needed for impactful legal representation and advocacy.” 

“Our primary goals are to empower students and integrate trauma-informed community lawyering into their practice,” explained Tess Feldman, Los Angeles LGBT Center attorney and instructor for the Asylum Law Clinic. “By the end of the program, students will be ready to represent asylum seekers before immigration judges and asylum officers across the United States.” 

Every day, the Los Angeles LGBT Center provides legal support to LGBTQ+ people who have fled to the United States as refugees. The Center’s Immigration Law Project provides legal consultations, court representation (including for asylum/refugee law), and holistic support to protect members of the LGBTQ+ community fleeing persecution and torture in their countries of origin. We also assist in applying for permanent residency, naturalization, family and marriage petitions, and other administrative relief.

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Internationally, a network of extremists are painting the LGBTQ+ community as threats to the family, or unfit for children. Here in California, they have shown up at school board meetings and Drag Queen Story Hours, inciting hatred and, in some cases, fomenting violence. Their aim is to create a culture of fear among our people—and particularly, our young people. 

Confronted with everything from forced outing policies to misinformation campaigns about transgender youth, the Los Angeles LGBT Center—the world’s largest LGBTQ+ nonprofit—teamed up with a group of queer creatives to launch “We Are Family,” a PSA for Pride that aims to counteract the harmful narratives about our community. 

Watch • 1:46

Los Angeles LGBT Center Presents: We Are Family

Watch • 1:46

Los Angeles LGBT Center Presents: We Are Family

“We Are Family” showcases vibrant queer families from Los Angeles—everything from the sisters who act as godmothers to each other’s children to the gay son with his loving father to the same-sex parents raising their children to the ballroom house that exemplifies the magic of chosen family. Voiced by the inimitable Jennifer Garner—a proud and unmistakable ally to our community—the PSA reminds our viewers that we are your friends, your neighbors, your loved ones. And above all, it urges us to find the rainbow at the end of the storm. 

“We Are Family” is a proud declaration that LGBTQ+ people are not going anywhere—and that we are going to need all of our families (chosen and otherwise) to link arms with us for the fight ahead.

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