LGBT Center San Francisco

Categories: Community Development

The San Francisco LGBT Community Center grew out of a community planning process initiated in 1993. The goal was to provide a permanent space nurturing nonprofits and providing programs to end isolation for Bay Area Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) people, while providing a model for other communities across the globe.

• In 1996 the Center incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
• In 1997 the site was selected, the land purchased and an architectural competition held to select the design of the building.
• By 1999 over $11 million had been raised--including $1,000 pledges from over 1,000 individuals--and construction began. In March 2002 we opened the first LGBT center built from the ground up: a 35,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility among the largest centers in the world.

The San Francisco LGBT Community Center's mission is to provide space and programs that welcome the LGBT community and its allies; unite the San Francisco LGBT community across lines of age, race, gender and economics; give visibility to the history, culture, and diversity of our LGBT community; organize and plan the political and cultural future for our LGBT community; and nurture new organizations and programs to meet emerging community needs.