SF LGBT Center

SF LGBT Center Fact Sheet

History and Mission

“The Center inspires me. It’s the place I belong, you belong, and we all belong. How could I not be part of that?”

The mission of the SF LGBT Center is to connect our diverse community to opportunities, resources and each other to achieve our vision of a stronger, healthier, and more equitable world for LGBT people and our allies. The Center’s strategies inspire and strengthen our community by:

• Fostering greater opportunities for people to thrive.

• Organizing for our future.

• Celebrating our history and culture.

• Building resources to create a legacy for future generations.

Despite gains in social understanding and approval for LGBT people over the past 40 years, LGBT people still face both individual and systemic discrimination. Since its opening in 2002, the Center has established itself as a cornerstone of the LGBT community with an impact that goes beyond its direct services. As the only non-profit in San Francisco serving all members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, the Center plays an important role as the physical and spiritual home for LGBT culture, and is vital to the ultimate survival of our identity as a community.

The Center’s critical safety net programs serve the most vulnerable members of the community — people of color, transgender, lesbian, and bisexual women, differently-abled people, youth, elders, immigrants, and low-income individuals — who often experience additional, intersecting forms of discrimination.

Today, when visitors arrive at the Center, they find free services like career counseling, job fairs, computer lab, social activities, mentorships, youth meals, daycare, various workshops and much more. Here they can connect with other LGBT people and organize to secure our equal rights. The Center is truly the heart, home and hands of the San Francisco LGBT community.