Center Adds 6 Beds for Homeless LGBT Youth		A Day In the Life of the Center Welcome to the Center Since 1971 the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center has been building the health, advocating for the rights and enriching the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Today it is a $51 million organization with 300 employees and 3,000 active volunteers. The Center’s wide array of services includes: free HIV/AIDS care and medications for those most in need; housing, food, clothing and support for homeless LGBT youth; low-cost counseling and addiction-recovery services; essential services for LGBT-parented families and seniors; legal services; health education and HIV prevention programs; transgender services; cultural arts program and much more.
In addition to the 20 beds in the Center’s transitional-living program, which gives homeless LGBT youth a place to live for as long as 18 months, the Center offers emergency overnight beds to homeless youth in crisis. With six new emergency beds, the Center can now offer 10 homeless LGBT youth—many rejected by their families because of their sexual orientation or gender identity— a place to get off the dangerous streets of L.A.   Emergency beds provide shelter for young people in crisis who are not ready for the transitional-living program, which requires residents to hold or seek jobs or attend school; put money in savings; and abide by rules such as a curfew. Some overnight guests go on to become residents.   The beds are offered to those most-in-need at our Jeff Griffith Youth Center, which offers	Curt Shepard, director of Children, Youth and Family Services, displays two of six new beds for homeless LGBT youth. meals, clothing, counseling, a GED preparation program and much more, 7 days a week.   For more information about the Center’s services for homeless LGBT youth, visit the Youth Services webpage.
‘Big Tent of Hope’ Also Houses Bigotry
In response to President-Elect Barack Obama’s selection of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at the presidential inauguration, Center Chief of Staff Darrel Cummings issued the following statement on December 18: "If President-elect Obama’s selection of Rick Warren to give his inaugural invocation is intended to send a message to America that he will be an inclusive leader, then he has clearly made a decision that the exclusion of the LGBT community is acceptable …	The unfortunate consequence of this “big tent” approach is that Obama is not really sending a message of inclusion, at least not the kind that invites into the tent those who have been historically and intentionally locked out for so long… Apparently we are welcome into the big tent of hope, but if we choose to enter, we should do so knowing we are in hostile, yet “balanced” territory.   Read the full statement.
Get Help Getting Off (Meth) at the Center
The “P&P” (party and play) scene—meth-fueled parties and unsafe sex—has too many young gay and bisexual men in its grip. Those who want to break meth’s hold on their lives may be ready to make a change but not ready to commit to a treatment program.  Getting Off, a series of six free,  peer-led workshops at the Center, gives men a place to talk about why they use, what triggers their use, how to reject peer pressure and other relevant topics.	The Center also helps meth users, who are ready to stop their meth use, get clean through our Crystal Meth Recovery Services program.
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