The Pride Center at Equality Park

The Pride Center at Equality Park calls itself a vibrant hub for South Florida’s LGBTQ+ community, and its stated mission is to offer a welcoming, inclusive place to find resources, support and connection. The idea dates to 1993, when it was the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida. The center bought its Wilton Manors campus in 2008 and reopened under its current name in 2009 after renovating the Schubert Building, according to its history page.

Programs listed on its site include Active Aging, Transgender Services, Women with Pride and a cyber center, along with a wellness program, a PrEP and PEP clinic, and HIV and STI testing. The center says it also hosts educational workshops and support groups. On the same campus, The Residences at Equality Park offer affordable apartments for older adults, with what the center describes as a special focus on LGBTQ+ individuals and supportive services to help them age in place.

The campus is a meeting ground, too. The center rents halls, an auditorium and smaller rooms for parties, political events, weddings and play readings, and its site lists about ten other organizations based there, among them the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida, SAGE of South Florida and Congregation Etz Chaim.

Then there’s Halloween. Wicked Manors, the costumed Halloween street festival on Wilton Drive, is produced by the center with the City of Wilton Manors and supports the center’s programs, according to the festival’s site. Dates and lineups for the center’s events change from year to year, so check its site for what’s next.