Visuality, Inc. (The Goldberg LGBTQ+ Center)

Visuality works to support the health, safety, personal growth and wellness of LGBTQ+ people and their allies across Southwest Florida. Its programs rest on three pillars, peer support, education and empowerment, and they are open to everyone from youth to elders, families to allies. The home base is The Goldberg LGBTQ+ Center in downtown Fort Myers, with events also held in welcoming spaces around the region.

The organization grew out of a PFLAG meeting. In 2010 Arlene Goldberg revived the Lee County PFLAG chapter, and Carrie Koehane began attending to find support for her transgender daughter and for herself. The two saw that Lee County had no services or gathering places for LGBTQ+ youth, so they asked the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Myers to host a youth social. The church offered its space at no cost, the first event was a success, and a mom and son at PFLAG suggested the name Visuality. Carrie and Arlene incorporated as a 501(c)(3), formed a board and kept building. What began as a youth program now serves LGBTQ+ people of all ages, and the Center carries the name of Arlene Goldberg, who became a national voice for marriage equality after the death of her wife, Carol, in 2014.

Youth remain at the heart of the work. Youth Drop In Night brings LGBTQ+ youth ages 11 to 18 to the Center each week for activities, educational workshops and peer support in a space where they can express who they are. Monochrome Madness, Visuality's youth prom, gives LGBTQ+ high schoolers a night to celebrate being themselves.

Adults have several ways to connect. The Uplift Peer Group meets weekly for peer-driven conversation, grounding activities and a short educational moment, with the goal of reducing isolation. The Trans* Peer Group, a peer-led space for trans, nonbinary, gender-expansive and questioning adults, meets regularly. Adult Game Night gathers people at the Center once a month as an alternative to bars and clubs, and Dining Out organizes monthly small group dinners at restaurants from Bonita Springs and Estero to Sanibel, Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres. An LGBTQ+ bereavement group, the BravoBrunch social and programs for older adults, including Link55+ and a 40+ Brunch, are in development.

When a crisis hits, the Visuality Emergency Fund provides immediate financial assistance to LGBTQ+ people and allies in Southwest Florida facing housing instability, medical emergencies or a loss of income. The Center's resource guide lists crisis lines, national legal and advocacy help, and affirming local restaurants, shops and faith communities.

Visuality also brings the community together in public. It produces the SWFL Pride festival with Pride SWFL, a free street festival in front of the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in downtown Fort Myers, with a White Party, a rooftop dance party and a drag brunch across Pride weekend. Be Seen!, the annual gala, takes place in December, and Champagne & Sequins drag brunches run quarterly. Volunteers staff the Center, support programs and outreach, and help run Pride and the gala, and monthly donors sustain the work as members of the Visuality Vanguard.