The William Way LGBT Community Center is a

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 ...

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

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and nearby communities, located at 1315 Spruce Street in Philadelphia in the

Gayborhood A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establis ...

. The community center was founded in 1975 as the Gay Community Center of Philadelphia. It purchased its current building at 1315 Spruce Street in 1997, and has owned it since local businessman Mel Heifetz paid off the center's mortgage in 2005. The center's programs include an extensive library, and programs in peer counseling, senior services, education, and arts and culture. The center also offers numerous 12-step meetings throughout the day and night. The center opened the Arcila-Adams Trans Resource Center in 2019 to centralize resources for trans people in Philadelphia. In 2021 the center collaborated with HIV/AIDS healthcare provider

Philadelphia FIGHT The Philadelphia Fight are a semi professional rugby league team based in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area. They currently compete in the USA Rugby League, having formerly competed in the now defunct American National Rugby Le ...

to provide

COVID-19 vaccines A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...

to LGBTQ people in Philadelphia. The center houses the John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives, which collects and preserves local and regional LGBT documents and artifacts. The archive is one of the most important collections of LGBTQ documents and artifacts in the United States. Along with researchers from the ONE Archives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, archivists from the John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives have been searching for unidentified men photographed at a gay wedding held in 1957. The search, which began in 2013 and is still ongoing, was covered in both LGBT and mainstream press. The western wall of the community center features Ann Northrup's block-long mural, "Pride & Progress", featuring images of Philadelphia's LGBT citizens over decades. Since 2010, the center's Executive Director is Chris Bartlett.

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External links

* 1975 establishments in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Philadelphia LGBT community centers in the United States LGBT culture in Philadelphia Non-profit organizations based in Philadelphia {{Philadelphia-stub

See also

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External links