Happy Pride Month from The Village Family Services!
The Village Family Services was founded to support unhoused youth, many of whom identify as LGBTQ+. From the beginning, our mission has been rooted in affirmation, dignity, and belonging. Today, our clients, staff, and leadership reflect the strength and beauty of the LGBTQ+ community. But Pride is more than a celebration. It’s a call to remember the history of resistance, survival, and trans joy. Every June, we honor the movement’s deep roots and recommit ourselves to building a future where all queer and trans people, especially youth, are safe, seen, and supported.
The Roots of Pride
While many trace the origins of Pride to the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and the first Pride march in New York in 1970, the history of LGBTQ+ resistance goes back even further, and much of it happened right here in Los Angeles.
In 1959, one of the first documented LGBTQ+ uprisings took place at Cooper Do-nuts, a 24-hour donut shop in downtown LA. Queer patrons, including transgender people and sex workers, rose up after police began harassing them during a late-night raid. Just a few years later, in 1967, the Black Cat Tavern in Silverlake was the site of another pivotal protest. After police violently raided the bar on New Year’s Eve, activists organized one of the earliest public LGBTQ+ demonstrations in the country. And in 1966, up north in San Francisco, transgender women, sex workers, and unhoused youth led the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots, a bold act of resistance against police violence.
These uprisings, like Stonewall in 1969, were not isolated. They were part of a larger, ongoing struggle, often led by Black and Brown transgender women, youth, and sex workers who demanded to be seen and respected.
The Leaders Who Paved the Way
Leaders of the LGBTQ+ liberation movement include Black and Brown Trans women like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, as well as Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. Marsha and Sylvia worked together to found STAR and house queer youth. Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, who is still alive today, uses her experience as a formerly incarcerated Black trans woman to advocate for currently incarcerated trans people. Lesbian and gay trailblazers like Audrey Lorde and Harvey Milk have opened opportunities for more queer people to exist in cultural spaces. Audrey Lorde centered her work on the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and power. Harvey Milk was one of the first openly gay elected officials who was assassinated after championing anti-discrimination policies.
Pride at The Village
The Village Family Services continues to advocate for LGBTQ+ people and offers safe, affirming spaces for the most vulnerable in our community. Our team works tirelessly to secure funding for LGBTQ+ services. Trans and gay people exist in our team and staff in essential positions in housing and mental health services and in our highest levels of leadership. We are lucky to have an employee dedicated to this work. Azucena Saldana (she/her/ella) is our LGBTQ Coordinator and the lead organizer of our affirming closet at the Drop-In Center, which offers clothing, makeup, laser hair removal, workshops on inclusion and safety, and other items that the community needs. Our therapists are trained to support all young people, and they work to navigate the challenges (and joys!) that come with being a young LGBTQ+ person.
Pride at The Village goes so far beyond this month. Uplifting, supporting, and affirming the LGBTQ+ community is part of who we are and why we exist.
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