Resistance Isn’t Enough
Less than six months into the Trump presidency, the man who vowed to protect LGBT people has appointed to his administration a slate of anti-LGBT, misogynistic, xenophobic people who have made speedy...
View ArticleWe the People: A New Year’s Dream Come True?
A year ago, we were reeling in the fear and uncertainty of what a Trump presidency and Congress controlled by conservatives would mean for our community, nation, and world. To our great dismay, many of...
View ArticleWhat My Parents Gave Me
When I was growing up on a farm in rural Arizona, my parents gave me and my siblings lots of rein. In the summers, we left the house in the morning never to be seen or heard from until we returned for...
View Article25 Years of Riding to End AIDS
Just over 25 years ago, a rag-tag band of about 500 cyclists and 100 volunteers rolled into West Hollywood after spending a week on the road from San Francisco. We could hardly believe it—we had raised...
View ArticleAn Ignominious Top 10
In this country there are three primary fronts on which to advance the causes of freedom, justice, and equality for LGBT people: the courts, the legislatures, and the people. In some periods of our...
View ArticleRiding the Rainbow Wave
For two years, those who care deeply about LGBT rights (not to mention many other issues of equity and freedom) have been looking to the2018 midterm elections as an opportunity for change. The months...
View ArticleA Sense of Place: We Belong
Since I began at the Center on January 4, 1993, I’ve always loved coming to work. I feel extraordinarily fortunate to be employed by an organization that is making an amazing difference in so many...
View ArticleIf We are Not a Part of the Solution, We are a Part of the Problem
I don’t ever want to hear another white person say, “But all lives matter.” That is not the point. The point is that black lives are devalued in our nation in a uniquely terrible and tragic way, by...
View ArticleOur Strength As Allies
I haven’t been this sad or this mad (or this appalled by Presidential callousness) since the early days of the AIDS epidemic. It was the mid-1980s, and I was a young lawyer living in Washington, D.C....
View Article2021: Continue to Fight for What Is Right
I’d be less than honest if I didn’t admit that I’m glad 2020 is drawing to a close. Like many of you, no doubt, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a year as stressful as this one, both professionally...
View ArticleCenter CEO Lorri L. Jean on why LGBTQ+ Californians need to vote on September 14
By Lorri L. Jean I remember the night so well. It was November 4, 2008, and the Center had planned a big election party for the LGBTQ community at the Music Box Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Hundreds...
View ArticleCenter CEO Lorri L. Jean: “It’s Been a Wild Ride — But We’re Still Hanging On”
By Lorri L. Jean Lately, I feel like much of my life has been a roller coaster ride: • In the world of COVID-19, a few months ago the Center was preparing to revive in-person services that had to go...
View ArticleLorri L. Jean: “Great Things Must Come to an End”
By Lorri L. Jean (Published in Spring 2022 Issue of Center’s Vanguard Magazine) This is the last time you will hear from me in the Vanguard as your Center’s CEO. Even though I’m quite aware (and...
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