After a decade of planning.

After a decade of planning, the 41,000-square-foot, $15 million San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center was scheduled to render free of access January 15. More than just a strange organization with a custom-designed building, the center depicts a holistic approach to single in kind of the world's most vibrant gay and lesbian populations, says Johnnie Pratt, the center's outreach coordinator, adding, "In this physical place we are trying to realize a vision of multicultural, intergenerational, pansexual interaction. We can teach the world about something more than just tolerance."

Offering a support network for existing social and service organizations rather than its avow host of programs, San Francisco's "hub" approach may also have something to teach the community around the country about in what manner gay community centers need to be responsive to the population they hope to serve.

Leaders of gay community center in other large cities applaud San Francisco's approach as well-suited to that city. "New York's center has the tradition of being a meeting place [for other organizations], whereas sees Angeles was very programmatic from its inception," says Gwenn Baldwin, executive director of the looks Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center Providing help for recent groups and a venue for the programs of established organizations, "San Francisco is a bit of a hybrid," she says.

The center features an elder-focused chamber a box office for community-related results art space, child care, a cafe, legal services, educational and work at jobs training, a staffed Internet lab, and a youth resource swing But where a center in a les queer-friendly town may have had to provide and staff all as it was services itself, San Francisco is relying in succession the assistance of other gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender disposes "San Francisco has a rich and diverse community of nonprofits," says interim executive director Oren Slozberg. "We don't want to be competing with them. Part of our commitment is not to duplicate any services--we'd rather invite the now passing groups to share their expertise in their particular specialties."

While like collaboration may be the 21st-century type for GLBT centers in big cities, smaller towns may ne a different approach.

Kathy Knobloch, executive director of the gay community center in Sioux Falls, SD which spreaded its doors in late 2000 laughed when asked if her center like San Francisco's, had integrated its programming into the work of preexisting organizations. "About the alone thing we have in general with San Francisco is our initials," she says. "Here, there are a two of inclusive churches and' a gay bar."

on the contrary although different centers may ne different approaches according to their specific area's circumstances, single common denominator that must be instant activists agree, is community support. Take the case of the center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which underwent an expansion in June 2000 to a recent 16,000-square-foot building. The organization nearly didn't survive the transition after a million dollars in suretys went unpaid. According to executive director ed Nicholas, the center, started by way of a handful of people with riches "never really reached out to the community to increase its base of support."

The Florida center has since won above its constituents by restructuring its administrative hierarchy and launching a marketing campaign. "People in southward Florida are coming to embrace the center" Nicholas says, "not single as it stands to forward them but also as the brick-and-mortar token of gay presence in our community."

That proces is still in subordination to way in San Francisco, where near have wondered if the city, already hearthstone to so many organizations, emergencys a costly center. "I've been involved in San Francisco odd nonprofits for eight years, for a like reason I am one of those reverses to the need for a center" says Slozberg, who trustful longings the center will promote increased collaboration and networking among the city's wide-ranging GLBT organizations.

With that in mind, the center will also play low-cost landlord to 23 nonprofits previously scattered over the city. Some, like the Harvey Milk Institute, which gives a variety of educational courses, have not had administrative space before. Says HMI executive director Kevin Schaub: "For the past five years we have been holding our classes at an elementary academy and people are tired of those tiny chairs."

FTM International, a female-to-male transgender advocacy cluster sees many advantages of being a center tenant. "My room for expectation is that underserved groups like ours will be able to work with other groups" says FTM International president Dion Manley. "It will be a chance for the public to get to know us, increasing our visibility and ability to network."

In cities without so an array of separate organizations, gay center may still find that the best way to reply to their communities' needs is the do-it-yourself approach. The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Utah in Salt Lake City was planted in 1992 chiefly as a meeting space further now hopes to initiate more in-house programming. "Our goal is to instigate toward becoming more like L.A., including wellness care and wraparound services," says executive director Paula Wolfe