05/31/2026
WHERE DO LGBTQ+ PEOPLE GO TO FIND COMMUNITY?
In most cities in the U.S., it is very difficult to find community, especially if you are LGBTQ+, a person of color or a senior.
Most cities and towns do not have a LGBTQ community center of any type.
Let's face it, outside of businesses that primarily serve alcohol (bars and clubs), where is there a place that you can go to randomly stop in to connect with other LGBTQ people in your city?
If you have a alcohol-free place where you can go to connect with a diverse group of LGBTQ+ people, to include people who look like you, you should cherish that space because it is a rarity not just in your city or town, but on the planet.
Third spaces for LGBTQ people can be a bar or club, but these shouldn't be our only options.
We also need intergenerational, family friendly, bright spaces, out of the darkness and alcohol-free, spaces that center our community, where people who don't drink alcohol or who are sober, can socialize with other q***r people and allies, without having to share space with people who are intoxicated.
The Lakeshore Lavender Lounge will be that place for our community here in Oakland.
This is a major undertaking for our organization and we believe that the need for a public facing, alcohol-free gathering space for our community is long overdue and urgently needed to help reduce isolation and bring our community together as we continue to face increased political and social attacks against LGBTQ+ people.
We are doing today what we did almost a decade ago when we first opened the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, trusting the process and focusing on healing our community, which led to us opening the Glenn Burke Wellness Clinics, The Town Youth Club, The Trans Wellness Center, then establishing the Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District and Moore Hope Plaza, and now the Lavender Lounge which we plan to open in the Fall. We appreciate your support as we bring this vital space into existence for our community.
Thank you and keep informed of our progress with the Lakeshore Lavender Lounge by joining our IG page
www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org
Thank you.🌈
