San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center

The San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center works to make the San Gabriel Valley a welcoming place for trans and queer (LGBTQIA2S+) people and their families to thrive at home. Founded in 2011 as the Pasadena Pride Center, it now operates from Mountain View Park in El Monte through a partnership with the City of El Monte, serving a suburban region of 31 cities where Latino and Asian American communities make up most residents.

The Center's peer support programs connect people with shared experiences: the TGI Peer Support Group for trans, gender non-conforming and intersex community members, the Sad Queers Grief Circle, Unified Sibs and Allies for supportive siblings, and a Senior Coffee Chat for LGBTQ+ adults 50 and up. Gayme Night and the Monthly Queer Social, with karaoke, bring people together for fun.

Each June the Center leads the San Gabriel Valley Pride Tour, a series of community events across the valley, from the SGV Pride Parade and Festival in Alhambra and Monterey Park to resource fairs, a Pride book festival and a Pride quinceañera in El Monte. The Center also publishes research on the health and safety needs of trans and queer people in the SGV and produces the Color Me Queer podcast.

Anyone can check the community calendar for program hours, join a group, sign up as a "Volunqueer" or give through the Building Pride campaign, which supports the Center's programs and its goal of hiring a first executive director.