Pacific Center: We’re Still Here, We’re Still Queer, and We’re Turning 50!

By Sharon Knight

The Pacific Center for Human Growth, the oldest LGBTQIA+ center in the Bay Area, has been quietly operating the only sliding scale mental health clinic for LGBTQIA+ people and their families in Alameda County for the past 50 years. Now we are ready to come out (again) loud and proud, with a new home, a new executive director and executive team, and the message: “We’re Still Here, We’re Still Queer, and We’re Turning 50!”

I recently spoke with Executive Director Lasara Firefox Allen about the Pacific Center’s proud legacy and what the future holds.

Sharon Knight: Please tell us about yourself, your background, and why you were drawn to work with the Pacific Center.

Lasara Firefox Allen: My background is in social work and grassroots activism. I’m queer identified and have many queer family members. I was drawn to this position because it was an opportunity to both serve and work with my LGBTQIA+ community.

Sharon Knight: How did you and the Pacific Center find each other?

Lasara Firefox Allen: I was ready to make a move back to the Bay Area from Mendocino County. I had heard many good things about the Pacific Center over the years, and when I found the job opening and researched the organization, I found so many points of alignment that I really couldn’t pass the opportunity up.

Sharon Knight: Can you give an example of one of these points of alignment?

Lasara Firefox Allen: Pacific Center is a legacy organization with a young and increasingly diverse organizational culture. Pacific Center has hired several new team members in the past few years—at the directors’ level and throughout the organization—with a conscious focus on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) representation. We have an amazing team who are dedicated to Pacific Center and our community.

Taunya Black—who is being honored with our Culture Shift award at our upcoming 50th gala on June 3rd— was instrumental in spearheading an effort to rewrite Pacific Center’s Mission, Vision, and Values statements in order to reflect racial equity as a central value of the organization. Our equitable hiring focus is one of the outward manifestations of that organizational work. As a white coconspirator, I agree with this ethical value, and believe that representation is key.

Another area of alignment is that our organizational culture encourages everyone with whom we work to show up as their whole selves. We employ from our community, with our community in mind. It is a peer-focused organization, and lives into the “nothing about us, without us” ethos. The overall diversity of the staff was, and is, a very attractive and alive aspect of the organization for me.

Sharon Knight: The Pacific Center was founded in 1973 by Jim Green and Richard Boxer. What was the motivation for creating the Pacific Center?

Lasara Firefox Allen: According to the community stories I’ve heard, the Center was formed in response to a brutal gay bashing that happened in Oakland. I’ve also heard that it was founded as a response to folks being tired of only having bars as a meeting place. And indeed, having a space for our community to meet that’s not oriented around alcohol is important to this day.

The organization began as a community center. Our therapeutic services were added later. When the HIV/ AIDS crisis began, the Pacific Center was here as a support. The Center has really been here through thick and thin for the East Bay LGBTQIA+ community.

Sharon Knight: Do you think the founders would be proud of what the Pacific Center has accomplished since its inception?

Lasara Firefox Allen: I hope so! I have had several folks from the organization’s past coming around and checking in, and that has felt really affirmative. And [former Executive Director] Leslie Ewing remains engaged, and I feel like that counts for a lot.

Sharon Knight: Can you share an instance with us?

Lasara Firefox Allen: There have been five long-standing couples who have gotten in touch since I’ve been here, all of whom met through the

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Joanie Juster

One of the most popular parlor games these days is bemoaning the demise of San Francisco. It’s hard to pick up any publication without seeing an article about how the city has become a raging hellscape, and we’re all about to collapse into a heap of crime and decay.

To which I say: Get a grip, folks. Yes, the city is facing serious problems that aren’t necessarily being addressed as quickly or efficiently as they should. Guess what? None of this is new, and San Francisco isn’t alone. Homelessness is not a uniquely San Francisco problem; plenty of cities (and even rural areas) are grappling with housing crises. Too many stores closing? It’s happening nationwide, as too many people do their shopping online, leaving local stores to struggle. Crime? Don’t read NextDoor—it will simply give you nightmares.

My standard answer to almost anything that bothers you is simple: Don’t just bemoan the problems. Be part of the solution.

I’m no Pollyanna. The problems we face are real, and require serious work. But what makes San Francisco