CenterLink is an American LGBT organisation which was founded in 1994 as a member-based coalition to support the development of strong, sustainable, LGBTQ community centers. A fundamental goal of CenterLink’s work is to strengthen, support, and connect LGBTQ community centers, and to help build the capacity of these centers to address the social, cultural, health, and political advocacy needs of LGBTQ community members across the country. CenterLink plays a vital role in addressing the challenges centers face by helping them to improve their organizational and service delivery capacity, access public resources, and engage their regional communities in grassroots social justice movements.
CenterLink produces an annual Leadership Summit for executive directors and board leaders of LGBTQ community centers and provides technical assistance and support to over 500 individuals and centers every year.
Membership
Serving over 270 LGBTQ community centers across the country in 45 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, as well as centers in Canada, China, and Australia, CenterLink assists newly forming community centers and helps strengthen existing LGBTQ centers, through networking opportunities for center leaders, peer-based technical assistance and training, and a variety of capacity building services. Our efforts are based on the belief that LGBT community centers are primary change agents in the national movement working toward the liberation and empowerment of LGBTQ people. Serving over 2 million people annually, they are the heart and soul of the LGBTQ movement and are vital to our current well-being and dreams for the future. Whether they provide direct services, educate the public or organize for social change, community centers work more closely with their LGBTQ constituency and engage more community leaders and decision-makers than any other LGBTQ network in the country.
CenterLink's website currently provides
web-based directory(and map) of
community center
Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...
s both within and outside of the United States, including Australia, Canada, and Cameroon.
Current members of CenterLink include:
History
In July 1987
Eric Rofes
Eric Rofes (August 31, 1954 – June 26, 2006) was a gay activist, educator, and author. He was a director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in the 1980s. In 1989, he became executive director of the Shanti Project, a nonprofit AIDS ser ...
and Richard Burns convened a gathering of lesbian and gay community center leaders at the
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Center in conjunction with the
National Gay and Lesbian Health Association annual conference, seeking to build peer support and an exchange of ideas.
In June 1994
the heads of the Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York Centers (respectively, John Thomas, Kat Morgan,
Lorri L. Jean, Ann DeGroot and Richard Burns) launched the National Association of LGBT Community Centers as part of the celebrations marking the 25th Anniversary of the
Stonewall Rebellion
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
with the goal of strengthening the movement of LGBT community centers. At that time, more than thirty centers gathered for an all-day meeting at the
Lesbian & Gay Community Services Center of New York during the Stonewall 25 commemorations.
The Association began organizing twice-yearly annual meetings, in conjunction with the Health Association conference and the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The National LGBTQ Task Force is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. Also known as The Task Force, the organization supports act ...
's Creating Change Conference. Regional meetings also were organized around the country. Without paid staff, the Association relied for many years on the leadership and coordination efforts of an annually elected Executive Committee composed of seven leaders of member centers.
In January 2004, CenterLink hired its first executive director and opened a national office in Washington, DC. CenterLink has greatly enhanced its visibility with LGBTQ community centers and laid the foundation to make ongoing support and technical assistance available. We continue to intensify our efforts to build sustainable LGBT community centers to ensure that LGBT people have access to, and benefit from, identity affirming and life-saving services and programs.
In 2008 the Association changed its name to CenterLink.
References
{{Reflist
External links
CenterLinkCenterLink on GuideStar
LGBT community centers in the United States