The LGBTQ Center Long Beach

The LGBTQ Center Long Beach at 2017 E 4th Street is the institutional cornerstone of a city that takes its LGBTQ+ community seriously. Operating on 4th Street in the Alamitos Beach neighbourhood — the same street known as Retro Row for its vintage shops and independent restaurants — the Centre provides social services, HIV/AIDS testing and support, a food pantry, senior programming, youth services, legal assistance, and an ongoing programme of community events. Long Beach's LGBTQ+ community is proportionally one of the largest in the United States, and the Centre's scale reflects this: it operates with a budget and staff that allow genuine depth of service rather than the token programming of under-resourced community centres. The 4th Street location places the Centre in the heart of the queer neighbourhood geography, accessible on foot from the Broadway Corridor bars and from the residential streets of Alamitos Beach where much of the LGBTQ+ population lives. For visitors who want to understand Long Beach's LGBTQ+ community in its full depth — beyond the bars and beyond Pride weekend — the Center is the essential contact.