Oakland LGBTQ Community Center

The Oakland LGBTQ Community Center is a community service center at 3207 Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland's Grand Lake district, serving LGBTQ+ people of every age along with their families and allies across Oakland and Alameda County. When it opened in 2017, it became the first all-inclusive, intergenerational, multi-service LGBTQ center in the city's history, and one of the few in the country founded by African Americans in service to all LGBTQ+ people.

The Center's health services are a signature strength. The Glenn Burke Wellness Clinic, named for the Oakland-born baseball player and LGBTQ visibility pioneer, is a project of the Center in partnership with LifeLong Medical Care. It offers HIV and STI testing and treatment, PrEP in pill and injectable form, PEP, doxy-PEP, mpox vaccination, hepatitis C screening, contraception counseling, free safer sex supplies and help enrolling in benefits or finding a primary care provider. Spanish translation services are available. The Trans Wellness Center, which opened in June 2025, provides hormone injection assistance, linkage to gender-affirming care, access to gender care scholarships and support groups for trans masculine people and for trans women and trans femmes.

Young people have a space of their own. Town Youth Club, Oakland's stand-alone queer and trans youth club, offers activities, programming and support for LGBTQIA+ youth and young adults in two age groups, 13 to 17 and 18 to 25. At the other end of the age range, Aging With Pride supports LGBTQ+ elders 55 and older with groups such as Older & Out, Lavender Seniors and Social Seniors, plus transportation assistance, emergency rental assistance and care coordination.

Community groups meet throughout the week. The Black Men's Awareness Club, Black Connect, Black Women Connect and POWER X for Latinx men create culturally grounded spaces, while a weekly BIPOC recovery circle and an LGBTQ Narcotics Anonymous meeting support people in recovery. Game nights and social events keep the Center a place to connect as well as get help. A food pantry is open to anyone who signs in, with drop-in shopping in the afternoons, and staff can point people toward housing help, mental health subsidies, legal referrals and job training.

The Center is also a civic presence. Its leaders worked with the Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District Committee and the Oakland City Council to establish the East Bay's first LGBTQ Cultural District around Lake Merritt, and the Center offers an Oakland Gayborhood Walking Tour of the district. Its next project is the Lakeshore Lavender Lounge, an alcohol-free third place for elders, youth, families, sober people and allies, with a lending library and events such as dance parties, game nights and drag shows.

The Center is open Monday through Friday from noon to 6 PM, with later hours for select groups and some Saturdays for groups and medical services. Call (510) 882-2286 to ask about any program. Volunteers apply online and are interviewed and trained, pantry donors can give shelf-stable food, and gifts support the Lavender Lounge and everyday programs.