As of August 2014, Phoenix Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee Inc., commonly known as Phoenix Pride, finds its home on 801 N. 2nd Ave. at what is called the LGBT Center.
“The community needs a physical space to come together,” the center’s facility administrator Joshua Judd said. “We need a place to meet up, to socialize, and talk and support one another. Only so much can be done in our houses, in our schools. It’s really up to this community to come to the center to support our programs.”
The facility boasts over 5,000 square feet of usable space split into five meeting areas of varying sizes. These rooms can hold anywhere from five to 60 people and include places that outside nonprofits and social groups can use to host meetings, fundraisers and social events.
“(These) resources help the growth and prosperity of this community,” center coordinator Donald Smith said. The aim is not to solely help teens, or older adults, but to include the LGBTQ population as a whole.
Judd said he is proud of the center being home to Arizona’s largest LGBTQ-specific library, with over 7,000 titles available to members and the general public.
“It’s also a historical and cultural record of the LGBT community in Phoenix,” Judd said.
The center also maintains a technology space with computers for anyone in the community to use at no charge for the first hour. A resource area with pamphlets and flyers on various topics such as substance abuse and veteran’s care are located next to the tech zone.
An art cube, which Judd describes as an indoor atrium, frames local artists’ work. Twenty percent of revenue from sales of the art benefit the center.
Geoff Love, a volunteer at the LGBT Center, has been helping out since the center moved to its current site in August.
“Just from looking at their previous location, it’s a hundred times better,” Love said. “It’s more of a resource center than I believe it was before.”
Maintaining the facility, which operates six days a week for a total of about 60 hours, can be difficult.
“We try very hard to keep those doors open for as many hours as possible,” Judd said.
Supporters can help with costs by purchasing memberships that donate a small amount of money monthly ($5 for students and veterans, $10 for adults, $20 for families). Members’ benefits include reduced rates for room reservations as well as the ability to register for any of the classes at the center for free. The classes range from tango to tech literacy.
The center, which used to be the One Voice Community Center, not owned and operated by Phoenix Pride, is still in the early stages of development.
“We’re always looking for feedback from the community,” Judd said. “We want to know what they want as members of this community because we are here to serve.”
The center hosts events such as support groups and social groups where members of the LGBTQ community can talk. Once a month, thanks to a partnership with Phoenix Gaymers, the center hosts a party complete with board, card and video games. Judd said that many initiatives are being worked on, including one which aims to connect LGBT parents and youth.
“In 2015 we’re set to launch a family program where LGBT parents and kids can come down to the center, meet up with one another, socialize, and support one another,” Judd said.
The LGBT Center also partners with Borderlands POWWOW (Produce on Wheels – With Out Waste). For just ten dollars, the food bank connects people with up to 60 pounds of fresh produce from farmers just over the border in Mexico. The center helps by then distributing the quality food to those in need.
Judd, an ASU alumnus, spoke highly of the scholarships Phoenix Pride has given out to local students. As a recipient of such a scholarship a few years ago, he said he is personally fond of the program.
“I don’t think I’d be where I am without that scholarship because it really showed me that members of this community are out there,” Judd said. “When you’re young, you’re in school, you don’t always see people like you. And so the scholarship isn’t just about the money, it’s really about bringing young folks into the community and helping them see that there’s a place for them.”
In the long run, Phoenix Pride and the new center hope to eliminate homophobia, transphobia and discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
“As a staff member at the center, it’s my job to bring that into existence. So one year from now it’s going to be better in Phoenix for LGBT folks,” Judd said. “In five years from now, it’s going to be a whole ‘nother world for LGBT folks because of Phoenix Pride and the center.”
Contact the reporter at bbozadji@asu.edu
