Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
Encyclopedia
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
serving the lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, bisexual
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
(LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
) population of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and nearby communities.
History
The Center is located in the West Village at 208 West 13th Street , an historic building which formerly housed the High School for Food Trades.Groups
Every week, 6,000 people visit the Center, and more than 300 groups meet in the building. These groups range from political activist organizations to social clubs. The Center also frequently hosts speeches, performances, workshops, and commercially sponsored information sessions. ACT-UP arose from discussions held at the Center, and it continues to serve as a spawning ground and/or incubator for new groups.Numerous Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
, Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous is a twelve-step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous describing itself as a "fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem," and it is the second-largest 12-step organization...
, and other twelve-step recovery groups meet at the Center. The Center's Mental Health and Social Services division also sponsors support groups focused on coming out, transgender issues, bereavement, and other topics of concern to the LGBT community.
The Center also houses Y.E.S., the Youth Enrichment Services. This organization provides services and support for queer and questioning youth. Programs such as both a young men's and a young women's discussion group, a gender exploration group, a safe schools network, and a variety of support groups are available to youth free of charge.
Art and history
Another important part of the Center's mission is to host and document the artistic and historic contributions of members of the LGBT CommunityGay community
The gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...
. This includes the Center’s museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
program, including the Campbell Soady Gallery, named in honor of major donors William Campbell and William Soady, that provide space for artwork
Work of art
A work of art, artwork, art piece, or art object is an aesthetic item or artistic creation.The term "a work of art" can apply to:*an example of fine art, such as a painting or sculpture*a fine work of architecture or landscape design...
that celebrates the diversity of LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
life and supports the work of emerging queer
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
artists. The Center is also home to a repository of manuscripts, personal papers, organizational files and records of the Center itself. Archivist
Archivist
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
Rich Wandel oversees this all-volunteer project.
Israeli Apartheid Week controversy
In February 2011, the Center became embroiled in a controversy over a pro-Palestinian group that was to have a party in the building on March 5th during "Israeli Apartheid WeekIsraeli Apartheid Week
Israeli Apartheid Week is an annual series of university lectures and rallies held in February or March. According to the organisation "[t]he aim of IAW is to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns as part of a...
." The group, Siegebusters, planned to train activists and raise funds for another vessel to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
columnist and porn producer Michael Lucas
Michael Lucas (director)
Michael Lucas is an American-Russian-Israeli gay pornographic actor, director, activist, writer and the founder/CEO of Lucas Entertainment, New York's largest gay-adult-film company...
threatened a boycott, claiming that Israel is the only gay-friendly country in the Middle East, that the group was anti-Semitic, and that LGBT people in the Palestinian territories
LGBT rights in the Palestinian territories
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights in the Palestinian territories are oftentimes spoke of in the geopolitical and cultural context of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict...
are tortured and killed. The Center cancelled the party, stating that Siegebusters was not an LGBT-related group. Siegebusters protested the decision by organizing an online petition; whereas Lucas hailed the decision in an interview with The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
.
In May 2011, the Center announced that it would allow the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid is a Toronto-based grassroots LGBT group involved in the movement against what the organization see as Israeli apartheid and is a member of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid. The group has been involved in Israeli Apartheid Week as well as Pride Week...
to meet in their building. The Center defended the move, stating that it "provides space for a variety of LGBT voices in our community to engage in conversations on a range of topics." In the beginning of June 2011, the Center decided to place a "moratorium" on renting space to "groups that organize around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
External links
- The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center — official website