TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS GAY WORLD: The Denver LGBT Center

Denver LGBT Center In our travels from coast to coast we usually contact and visit the LGBT Centers in each city where we stop. Last week we were in Denver, Colorado and toured the Denver LGBT Center. In all of our travels it is one of the finest in the country. Denver LGBT Center“THE CENTER-Advancing LGBT Colorado” offers something for everyone. From teenagers to senior citizens their center has a huge staff of volunteers to help and assist everyone. They have different exhibits during the year and while we were there we got to see ‘Ain’t Nobody’s Business: LGBT Influence on the Harlem Renaissance’ portrait exhibit featuring African Americans who were in the arts and entertainment in the 1920 and 1930’s. The Denver LGBT Center first opened in 1976 and currently operates on an annual budget of $2..2 Million and employs 19 staff members and has over 520 community volunteers to serve more than 46,000 people a year! Among the many services that the Center offers are General Support Groups including Counseling services, HIV/ST1 testing, Alcoholics Anonymous, Wellness screening and free cyber center. They have safe and low-cost activities for LGBT Families. They have free referrals to LGBT-friendly attorneys for help with legal questions as well as free monthly legal clinics. SAGE of the Rockies provides support and information for LGBT people over 50 years of age. They offer free weekly activities including coffee groups, wellness clinics, Yoga classes and more. We got to meet and talk with Reynaldo Mireles, the Program Manager. Other programs includes the Capitol Hill Care Link which helps elders over 60 to continue living independently and with assistance with access to a variety of senior services. They have special support groups for the Transgender community. Actually the Center is a place for ALL of the LGBT community. In the Denver LGBT Center is the Terry Mangan Memorial Library which is the home of over 3,000 volumes of LGBT texts. They also have a wonderful Oral Histories department, photo archive and research center where you can view articles, news clippings and correspondence related to the LGBT history not only in Colorado but in the United States. Denver LGBT Center pride paradeIn June they have the Denver Pridefest where over 380,000 people celebrated and over 120,000 attended the parade last year. This years festivities and parade will be June 17 and 18. It is one of the largest LGBT Pridefests in the country. We want to thank Rex Fuller, Vice President of Communications and Corporate Giving who gave us a complete tour of the Center. Also a very special thanks to Tony Smith of Denver. We first met him and his husband Jim when we visited Denver a few years ago.. Both of these gentlemen are great ambassadors for Denver. Visit their website at: www.glbtcolorado.org.  Their phone number is 303 733.7743 and their address is 1301 East Colfax just a few blocks east of downtown. The Center is open Monday thru Friday from 10 AM to 8 PM. The LGBT community in Denver certainly has something to be very proud of. Thank you to all the staff, volunteers and all the people who have made this a crown jewel for the LGBT community. Other cities in the country need to visit the Center and go back home and strive to make their Centers like the one in Denver.

Don and RayAlways remember to have fun when traveling, meet new people and talk to everyone!

TRAVELING IN OUR FABULOUS GAY WORLD is written by Donald Pile and Ray Williams, Award-winning, Celebrity travel columnists who write for gay publications from coast to coast (And now legally married).

Proud members of the IGLTA. You can email them at gaytravelers@aol.com and visit their website at http://gaytravelersataol.blogspot.com/

Denver Gay Travel Resources
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