Few would argue with the statement that San Francisco is the "gayest" city in America, but the "city by the bay" has never had a central gathering place for the GLBT community -- until now.
On Sunday, the Charles M. Holmes Campus of the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center officially opened its doors during a two-hour celebration on the edge of the city's Castro district. An estimated 1,500 members
of the community looked on as San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown cut the red ribbon that was draped across the 41,000-square-foot building.
The two-building complex is the first GLBT center in the nation to be built from the ground up and combines a steel and glass structure with a Queen Anne Victorian originally built in 1896.
"The Victorian structure is an emblem of a time when we were forced to hide," said Dana Van Gorder, vice president of the center's board of directors. The new glass building, he said, represents a rise to "visibility and pride."
"With this beautiful building we will take our place in the city," he said.
Also addressing the crowd were U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, California State Assemblywoman Carole Migden and Tom Ammiano, the openly gay president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
"I wore my red shoes," Ammiano told the crowd gathered for the opening ceremony. "And just like Dorothy I am going to click them three times. There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home. Welcome home!"
Though the idea of a San Francisco GLBT community center has been talked about for more than two decades, ground breaking didn't actually begin until the fall of 1999. Now that the center's doors are open, the real work can begin, officials said.
"What is before us is to create a safe and welcoming environment for anyone who walks through that door, to create a culture within the building where people feel honored and respected and a place where we can learn from each other," spokesman Jason Riggs told the Gay.com/PlanetOut Network. "The center is a canvas that continues to be painted, and we will continue to modify it to reflect the needs of the community and help provide for those needs," he said.
To that end, the $15.3 million center will operate 17 programs with 40 collaborating organizations. And it will provide 23 nonprofit agencies with office space and provide rooms for classes, youth services, senior programs, children and family activities, art and history displays and parties.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was just the beginning of a week of celebratory events that runs though March 10.
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