Inside The Center, Where the LGBTQIA+ Community Is Uplifted

The Milk Makeup team wasn’t the first to arrive at The Center when we visited earlier this spring. Despite getting there 15 minutes before it opened, there was already a long line of people eagerly waiting to get inside. This group included six older gentlemen who were chatting happily amongst themselves, and judging by their conversation, it was clear that they’d known each other for a while. Maybe they’d even met at The Center, which for 40 years has opened its doors to welcome the city’s LGBTQIA+ community.

Nowadays, it feels like there are hundreds of venues that make up New York’s expansive gay scene. There are bars, gyms, bookstores, museums, galleries, clubs, and even beaches that cater to queer people. But few do it quite like The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center—aka The Center—a nonprofit committed to empowering LGBTQIA+ folks by providing them with all the space and resources they need to live their best lives. It’s basically like a queer headquarters, one that serves approximately 6,000 people a week.

Building and fostering community has been one of Milk’s core values from the start—you can see it just walking through our offices—which is why collaborating with The Center was a natural fit for us. On our team’s visit to The Center, we got a closer look at the impact of our ongoing partnership and why The Center is such a vital resource for the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Milk Makeup x The Center At Milk Makeup, we’ve always stood for inclusivity and the freedom to live your life authentically and unapologetically. Naturally, The Center’s mission resonated with us from the very beginning. Our relationship together began nearly 20 years ago at Milk’s original location in the Meatpacking District. Today, we continue to work in support of The Center’s programming and the LGBTQIA+ community. One of the many ways in which we do this is to pledge 1% of all MilkMakeup.com sales throughout the year to The Center. For Pride Month, we’re doubling our donations. Through our ongoing partnership, Milk Makeup has pledged $50,000 annually to support The Center's resources and programs—to date, we’ve raised over $207,000. “Human rights have always been an important issue for us because it is our community,” says Mazdack Rassi, our Co-Founder and Milk Studios Founder. He first learned about The Center through a coworker who regularly used its services. Immediately recognizing its significance to the community, he sought out ways to get involved, beginning a decades-long partnership. “Milk has always been about providing space for those within our community and fighting for them,” he says. “Our connection to The Center is personal and one of deep community,” says Georgie Greville, our Co-Founder and Creative Director, echoing the same sentiment. “Our friends and family have used and needed The Center as support as they have come to articulate themselves in the world. Being partners with The Center is an extension of living in integrity as New Yorkers who worship at the altar of diversity. We know in our cells that we need all of us and our vibrant different forms to make up the creative life force of this city, and it is our mission to help support that.

Last fall, we partnered with The Center for the GET IT (Getting Employed Through Industry Training) fellowship. This 36-week paid program mentors young members of the community through on-site career training and internships based on an industry of their choice, from beauty to finance. Fellows also work on a capstone project to sum up their time in the program, expand their professional network, and graduate with the skills and experience needed for an entry level role in their field. (Interested? Head to The Center’s website to learn more about how to apply.)

A Look Inside The Center

Through our ongoing partnership with The Center, we’ve witnessed its evolution and impact firsthand. Its location in the West Village has a rich history that made it a natural choice for the city’s first designated community center specifically for LGBTQIA+ people: the casual encounters that occur every summer at the Christopher Street Piers, the 1966 “Sip-In” at Julius, and the riots at Stonewall, widely cited as the kickoff of the modern gay liberation movement.

Housed in what was once an elementary school, The Center now spans four floors after its renovation in 2014. Inside, you’ll find facilities designed to serve the community, including an internet cafe, a library, event spaces, medical offices, a garden, and safe spaces for people to just hang out. Throughout the year, The Center hosts events, from summer garden parties to gala dinners. Once a year, it holds an annual fundraiser to honor public figures from multiple industries that have made significant contributions to the community.

Programming at The Center

For those that have walked through its doors, The Center provides a safe space in so many ways. Throughout its history, it’s played a major role in mobilizing some of the most notable gay rights organizations of the 20th century. In 1987, writer and gay rights activist Larry Kramer delivered his seminal speech calling for action against the ongoing AIDS epidemic that was decimating the city’s gay population, inspiring the formation of ACT UP, one of the earliest AIDS activist groups. Other prominent groups like Queer Nation, Lesbian Avengers, and GLAAD are also said to have originated there, and to this day over 300 groups (like Gays Against Guns) continue to host their own meetings there.

Today, you’ll find an extensive number of services here. In considering all the needs of its community, The Center is where many go to seek out healthcare; health and wellness programs; STI testing, education, and recovery assistance; trans support groups; arts and entertainment events; career assistance; and family services. There are also specific youth-oriented programs including coming out support groups, leadership programs, and counseling. It's one of the few places in the city that offers certified substance use treatment programs for young people.

Supporting the community comes in many forms, something The Center has always inherently understood. Whether it functions as a resource center or a safe space for organization and socialization, anyone who enters knows they are cared for and have a place here. 

Stepping inside, we noticed the art dotted throughout the building’s many halls. On the second floor, a prominent mural took up an entire bathroom: “Once Upon a Time…” by the late Keith Haring. It was painted on-site as part of The Center Show, a retrospective exhibition commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in 1989. Later, at the Pat Parker/Vito Russo Library inside, we found a wide selection of books, zines, and other reading materials by LGBTQIA+ authors.

New Yorkers have their choice of queer spaces to move through, but it’s this commitment to uplifting all LGBTQIA+ people that keeps them lining up for The Center almost 40 years later. It’s the same tireless commitment that our entire team at Milk Makeup will always work to support.

Read more about The Center, and find out how you can get involved.