LGBTQ+ Center Awareness Day 2024
Community Centers are the Local-Level Infrastructure of the LGBTQ Movement
In recognition of LGBTQ Center Awareness Day, a national day of action focused on bringing attention to the work of LGBTQ community centers everywhere, the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) and CenterLink recently released the 2024 LGBTQ Community Center Survey Report. The biennial survey series started in 2008 and highlights the crucial role these centers play in the broader LGBTQ movement — offering an invaluable link between LGBTQ people and local, state, and national efforts to advance LGBTQ equality.
The report showed that the 199 participating LGBTQ community centers in 42 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, collectively serve over 58,700 people each week, or over 3 million people per year. Many of the centers primarily serve people and communities that are historically under-resourced and under-served, including low-income, people of color, transgender people, and those under the age of 18.
“The centers not only provide the local-level infrastructure for the LGBTQ movement, but for many community members, these centers are the only source of affirming interaction, support and life-saving services and resources,” said Tessa Juste, LGBTQ Movement Building and Policy Researcher at the Movement Advancement Project.
A diverse range of programs and services are featured throughout the report, including centers such as colleQTIve in San Jose, California, which provides outpatient behavioral health services to transgender and gender diverse (TGD) folks, SMYAL in Washington, D.C., which had recent success working with migrant LGBTQ+ youth, and MiGen Michigan LGBTQ+ Elders Network’s innovative programming, which celebrates older adults in diverse ways.
“This report is a crucial guidepost for us to see the positive impact of LGBTQ centers across the U.S. as well as what areas need additional resources,” said Denise Spivak, CEO of CenterLink. “As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, this report makes clear the importance of LGBTQ centers in our communities.”
The findings in this report outline program priorities, constituencies and services, infrastructure, fundraising, and staff, board, and volunteer capacity, in addition to the rising threats to safety and security experienced by centers.
Safety & Security
- 73% of LGBTQ centers surveyed reported they had experienced anti-LGBTQ threats or harassment over the past two years, much of which were specifically in response to anti-LGBTQ politics or rhetoric.
Programs & Services
- 66% of LGBTQ community centers directly provide physical health, mental health, and/or anti-violence services or programs — and this number jumps to 95% of centers when including those that provide referrals to LGBTQ-friendly health providers.
- Half of centers (50%) offer computer resources or services to the public, providing needed tools for job searching and career development, social services, schoolwork, and more.
- Nearly all centers (92%) engage in advocacy, public policy, or civic engagement activities across a wide range of issues and areas, including over half engaging in voter registration efforts. More than one-third of centers listed anti-transgender legislation or other focus areas as their top priority, reflecting the increasingly hostile political and legislative landscape today.
Center Capacity
- Although LGBTQ community centers reported a collective 2024 budget of over $366 million across all centers, the report shows that the financial realities of LGBTQ community centers vary greatly. Over one-third of centers have budgets of less than $250,000. In addition, over 98% of that collective budget belongs to big budget centers (budgets of $250,000 or more).
- Funding sources also vary across the different size centers: the largest share (41%) of big budget centers reported that government grants were their top single source of revenue in 2023, while the largest share (41%) of small budget centers said individual contributions were their main source of revenue in 2023.
- Government grants provide key resources to centers and are used to provide key services to LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ people alike in local communities across the country. Over six in ten (64%) responding LGBTQ community centers reported currently having a government grant, totaling more than $117 million in funding for needed services like health and housing.
- While nearly half of all centers remain thinly staffed, 84% of responding centers employ paid staff, providing jobs to 3,100 people.
- In 2023, roughly 11,600 people volunteered over 421,000 hours at responding community centers, helping centers with and without paid staff to significantly expand their reach and impact.
▸▸ Learn more
- Discover additional trends and findings in MAP’s new report, which highlights data from the 2024 LGBTQ Community Center Survey.
- Visit CenterLink for more information on LGBTQ community centers in your local area.
