The Pride Center of Maryland, formerly the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland, is a

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Gay & Lesbian Community Center Of Baltimore Ltd.
. ''Tax Exempt Organization Search''.

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

. Retrieved August 23, 2019. serving the

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

population of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and the

Baltimore metropolitan area The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As of the 2010 United Sta ...

, located at 2418 Saint Charles Street in Baltimore.

History

The Community Center was founded in 1977 as the Gay Community Center of Baltimore (GCCB). The Center was co-founded by Paulette Young, who became the Center's first president. The other co-founders of the Center were James Becker, Paul Bennett, Jim Childress, Jeffrey Dames, Shawn Dougherty, Howard Gaas, Eddie Hall, Charles Hughes, David Kammer, Tom Miggs, Dana Rethmeyer, Harvey Schwartz, Norman Thomas, Kathy Valentine and Silas White. In March, 1978, the Center rented a building at 2133 Maryland Avenue and within a month under the auspices of the Center, the Baltimore Health Clinic opened for business. The grand opening of the Center took place on Maryland Avenue on June 12, 1978. By early 1979, with charitable funding from the community, the GCCB purchased a building at 241-243 West Chase Street. It was one of the first LGBT centers that was owned by the LGBT community. The building had been a four-story warehouse and total renovation of the building was required as the existing structure was simply a shell, with little or no electricity, plumbing, insulation, heating or stairways. With volunteer help from the community, the Center's renovation took place and the building housed administrative offices, a newspaper, rooms for LGBT groups and a floor designated for social/entertainment functions, along with a switchboard. In 1980, the existing services which the Center provided were: an information, help and referral hotline which operated from 3 p.m. until midnight, a medical clinic which bean with the aid of the Baltimore City Health Department which operated twice a week. The services were expanded from being primarily a VD clinic to offering gynecological and other primary health services. Counseling services were provided staffed by professional counselors which operated twice a week on both a drop-in and appointment basis. Periodic forums were held on a wide variety of topics which served an educational purposes both the LGBT community and the general public. A library of education materials, books, periodicals, newspapers, research materials is still a part of the center's legacy. A speaker's bureau, and community outreach services were deemed as a necessity from the beginning of the vision by the original co-founders. The Center published

Gay Life Gay Life was a weekly newspaper about LGBT culture, gay culture published by the LGBT Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland. It was distributed in Baltimore, Maryland and throughout the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic re ...

, a Baltimore newspaper that focuses on

gay culture Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, including '' ...

, until 2016 when it was merged with Baltimore Outloud. In 2019, the community center changed its name to the ''Pride Center of Maryland''.

References

External links

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Article on youth center

The GLCCB – Explore Baltimore Heritage
{{LGBT in Maryland Charles Village, Baltimore LGBT community centers in the United States LGBT in Maryland Buildings and structures in Baltimore LGBT culture in Baltimore Midtown, Baltimore Organizations based in Baltimore Non-profit organizations based in Maryland Organizations established in 1977 1977 establishments in Maryland

History

See also

References

External links