Pride Center Moves Aboveground

For a decade, the New Haven Pride Center has operated out of a buzz-to-enter, windowless basement, unmarked and invisible to pedestrians in the Ninth Square.

Now, the community center is coming out — into a much larger, glass-walled, ground-floor home, where a pride flag is already brightening the front window.

The Pride Center, the only public-facing LGBTQIA+ community center in New Haven and one of only a handful in Connecticut, announced last week that it plans to move out of the basement of 84 Orange St., and down the block into the former Artspace headquarters at 50 Orange St.

On Monday afternoon, Executive Director Juancarlos Soto and Pride Center staffers TMo Lawson-Dickerson and Laura Boccadoro basked in the new space on the corner of Orange and Crown. 

The Pride Center’s future home means more than just access to rays of actual sunlight (though, the staff members emphasized, the sunshine is important). 

At 50 Orange St., community members will hopefully no longer need a complex set of directions to reach the organization. The space will be more accessible to wheelchair users. It will allow the Center to make its presence known, and perhaps even prop open the front door. 

It’s a step toward more ​“visibility,” said Lawson-Dickerson. ​“People can see us, and we can see people.”

The move to more open and overt headquarters comes at a time of emboldened anti-trans and anti-queer vitriol and legislation across the country. Just a few weeks ago, the Pride Center itself received a bomb threat on the day it was supposed to host its annual pride block party.

“That’s how you respond to hate,” said Soto. ​“You respond by being louder and prouder.”

50 Orange St. will also allow the Center to expand the services it offers. The space will be able to host far more people, and even multiple events at once, the staff members said — meaning that affinity groups may be able to meet more frequently and outside organizations can collaborate and convene inside.

There’s room for wellness fairs, art shows, and parties. For a larger food pantry and clothing closet. A designated space for teens. An entire basement for storage. And a handful of other rooms to host case management meetings or community gatherings.

The new space has an accessible bathroom with a shower, which the Center plans to make available to community members. ​“So many of our clients ask if we have a shower,” noted Boccadoro.

“I’m excited to have a sustainable space for young folks,” said Lawson-Dickerson, who runs the Pride Center’s youth programming. They envision a place where teens can drop by at any time to do homework, relax, and build community without worrying that ​“there’s not enough space.”

The staff plans to work with volunteers to turn every blank wall into a canvas for community murals, colorful messages, and other expressions of art and pride. 

The Pride Center’s new landlord, Beacon Communities, ​“were champions for us for sure,” said Boccadoro. The Leonard-Litz Foundation is helping to fund the new rent of $5,000 per month, and the city is likely to become a source of financial support as well. 

Mayor Justin Elicker wrote in a statement that he plans to propose allocating $30,000 in the upcoming city budget process to support the Pride Center’s move to the new location. 

“The NHPC provides services, support, programming and a place of community and belonging that help empower and uplift our LBGTQ+ residents. They are also fierce advocates for equality and inclusion for all,” Elicker wrote. ​“We’re also working to help connect them to other grant and funding opportunities which, if awarded, would help financially support their operations and programs as well.”

The Pride Center staff said they’re excited to join the other businesses on the block, such as queer-owned Bark and Vine, the Allstar Lineup barber shop, and Ninth Square Market, which have already proven to be warm neighbors.

Gesturing at the pedestrian-only block outside, marked by stripes of every color painted in the middle of the road, Lawson-Dickerson said, ​“We’re at the end of the rainbow!”