Montgomery Pride United

Montgomery Pride United is the organization behind the Bayard Rustin Community Center and Thrift Store, the place LGBTQ+ people in Montgomery and central Alabama go for community, practical help and a voice in the state capital. Its work rests on a simple idea: a safe place to gather, resources for people who need them, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights in the Deep South.

The organization began in October 2015, when community members met at The Sanctuary to talk about organizing against policies harming people of color and queer people. Weekly meetings at the P.O.W.E.R. House followed, and in June 2016 Montgomery Pride United led a Pride march and rally to the Alabama capitol, the first time in many years an LGBTQ+ organization had marched down Montgomery's streets. The group opened its first center in 2017, added a monthly yard sale to raise funds, and in January 2019 opened the Bayard Rustin Community Center and Thrift Store at 635 Madison Avenue. The center is named for the civil rights organizer Bayard Rustin, an openly gay leader who worked alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and aims to carry on his legacy of advocacy, education, queer liberation and unity.

Inside, the Emergency Resource Program helps LGBTQ+ people who need food, shelter, medical services or other support, with food, clothing, hygiene items and referrals available when the center is open. The Little Free Pantry supplies food and hygiene products, including condoms and women's hygiene products, for anyone who needs them without having to ask. The thrift store sells clothing, cooking items and unique finds, and all of its sales go toward the center's work. The building also holds one of the largest LGBTQ+ libraries in the state.

Support is personal, too. Talk to Me offers free peer-based mental health appointments with center staff, in person or by video. The Trans and Gender Non-conforming support group, for people 19 and older, meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from 6:30 to 8 p.m. with free pizza. COLORS United runs twice-monthly social groups for youth ages 13-18 and young adults ages 19-29, along with a monthly art club, a monthly Dungeons and Dragons club and an all-ages community prom each May, and all of it is free. Through a partnership with CenterLink, teens can also join Q Chat, a moderated online space led by staff from LGBTQ+ centers around the country. Senior services help older adults and other neighbors apply for Social Security and other benefits.

Montgomery Pride United also shows up in public. It produces Montgomery Pride, a family-friendly, all-ages festival with vendors, activities and entertainment, and its members speak on LGBTQ+ issues before lawmakers, in schools and in congregations across the state.

The center is open Tuesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an open house on the fourth Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. featuring refreshments, a silent auction and thrift store deals. Call (334) 356-2464 to make an appointment for resource help, or email montgomeryprideunited8@gmail.com. Volunteers staff the thrift store register, sort donations and help facilitate COLORS United events, and donations keep the center's doors open.