New Haven Pride Center Leads Week of Action
A safe space in Greater New Haven for support groups, LGBTQ+ programming, advocacy work and activism goes virtual.
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With the temporary suspension of in-person gatherings during COVID-19, the New Haven Pride Center has continued to provide a virtual safe space within the Greater New Haven community for support groups, LGBTQ+ programming, advocacy work, and activism.
As part of that work, The Pride Center invites you to join them for The 2020 LGBTQ+ Week of Action. The virtual event features a series of discussions, workshops and organizing activities during the week of June 22 – 28.
The week of action comes during the June celebration of LGBT Pride Month, which commemorates the Stonewall riots that occurred at the end of June 1969.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, The New Haven Pride Center has expanded its services to include food distribution for people who are facing food shortages.
The New Haven Pride Center was founded in 1993 by a group of activists who were advocating for domestic partnership recognition by the City of New Haven and the Board of Aldermen of New Haven. The advocates lost that fight, as the Board of Aldermen did not approve the legislation. But they regrouped to create a needs assessment for the LGBTQ+ community, led by John D. Allen, then a student at Southern Connecticut State University.
Allen’s survey revealed that despite there being a vibrant community, there was no single space where different gender identities and orientations could gather, meet and organize. On November 17, 1996 the Center opened its doors to the community.
Over the past two-plus decades the Center has been a home to many community grounds and peer-led programs, and in June 2017 the Center announced its move from an all-volunteer run non-profit to a staffed institution with an executive director.
Since then the Center has grown tremendously adding numerous support groups and social programs, creating a rotating gallery space allowing for LGBTQ+ art installations, expanding existing programming including PRIDE New Haven, and elevating the conversation around city and state-level advocacy.
Learn more about The New Haven Pride Center
Did you know?
John Allen, founder of the New Haven Pride Center, and his husband Keith Hyatte, retired director of paint at Long Wharf Theatre, started John D. Allen and Keith E. Hyatte for LGBTQ+ Interests Fund to support and advance the LGBTQ+ community in Greater New Haven.
This story is part of the Inspiration Monday story series produced by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.
