The Diversity Center

The Diversity Center inspires and advocates for the LGBTQ+ people of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties by providing services, spaces, education and events that enhance community well-being and help individuals build resilience and thrive. Its vision is a healthy, vibrant, intergenerational LGBTQ+ community, safe and secure at school, at work and at home. The center sits at 1117 Soquel Avenue in Santa Cruz and is open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 6 pm.

The story goes back to 1975, when Santa Cruz organized its first Gay Pride Festival. In 1989 a leased building became a home and resource center, the Santa Cruz Lesbian and Gay Community Center, now The Diversity Center. The early focus was responding to the AIDS epidemic, and the work has since broadened to improving the well-being of youth, transgender people and older adults while educating the public. The center also serves as fiscal sponsor for Santa Cruz Pride, the Safe Schools Project and the Queer Youth Task Force, and its documentary Never the Last Love Letter, about the grassroots HIV/AIDS response in Santa Cruz, has been accepted into the Santa Cruz Film Festival.

Mental health services are offered at no charge to LGBTQ+ youth, family members, adults and seniors, with individual, relational, family and group counseling and case management. The approach is strength-based and trauma-informed, and services are provided by master's-level interns, associates and their clinical supervisor. Peer support groups include a Trans Masculine group, a Trans and Nonbinary group on Wednesday evenings, Femme TransFormation on Thursday evenings and the QTBIPOC Peer Support Circle. Staff also offer Name and Gender Marker Change Consultation.

Youth programs provide affirming spaces to connect, lead and create. The center visits school LGBTQ+ clubs with presentations and training for students and staff, publishes the Rainbow Reader magazine with contributors from elementary to high school, hosts a Queer Student Union for high school leaders, and runs a monthly Rainbow Kids Circle playgroup for families with LGBTQ+ children in elementary school. In Monterey County it partners with Monterey County Behavioral Health on Rainbow Connections, bringing Welcoming Schools curriculum, school club support and Family Acceptance Project resources.

Older adults join Weekly Wisdom Workshops every Tuesday from 10 am to noon, quarterly luncheons, Men's and Women's Socials and a Senior Advisory Committee that shapes the programming. Community evenings include Queer Book Club, Write Queer, Guided Mindfulness, LGBTQ+ Open Mic and Trans Memorial Quilt Panel craft meet-ups.

Triangle Speakers, a speakers' bureau active for more than 30 years, brings personal stories to schools, businesses and community organizations, and the center offers tailored trainings on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. The annual gala, held October 10, 2026 at The Grove, raises funds and presents the Allyship in Action Award. To get help, call (831) 425-5422 or email info@diversitycenter.org. To get involved, submit a volunteer application, join the gala team, or donate.