ABOUT US
We are a coalition of LGBTQ+ artists, art workers, culture makers and institutions advocating for arts funding and visibility, while countering threats to queer spaces and programming through collective action and cooperation.
OUR MISSION
Established in 2025, LA LGBTQ+ Arts & Culture Coalition is a regional alliance of artists, arts professionals and cultural institutions committed to uplifting LGBTQ+ voices dedicated to collective defense, public visibility, creative resistance, and building power across the art and culture sectors of Los Angeles County.
WHAT WE DO
POWER
Develop regional networks of LGBTQ+ artists, organizations, and allies to strengthen and amplify public and private financial support and investment for queer-led cultural projects through advocacy and collective action providing stewardship and accountability managed through strategic planning and good governance.
VISIBILITY
Create convenings, public programs, and member events in partnership with LGBTQ+ artists and institutions to promote cross-sector collaboration, collective storytelling and community to reframe and make visible our cultural contributions fostering spaces where joy, connection, and mutual support can thrive.
RESISTANCE
Protect LGBTQ+ artists, creative professionals and nonprofits by quantifying and reframing the economic and social impact of LGBTQ+ cultural production advocating for institutional responsibility to address disability justice, multilingual access, and broad representation in the cultural landscape ensuring a vibrant public sphere.
VALUES & PRINCIPLES
EQUITY
We center the voices, needs, and leadership of those most impacted by systemic instability — queer, trans, Latinx, Black, Indigenous, Asian, and disabled artists and communities.
SOLIDARITY
We believe in collective action over individual achievement or leadership. Our power comes from showing up for one another across disciplines, identities, and geographies.
ACCOUNTABILITY
We are artist-led and community-governed. We hold ourselves and our partner institutions to transparent, participatory, and ethical standards of stewardship.
INTERDEPENDENCE
We reject the scarcity mindset imposed by underfunded cultural sectors. We collaborate, share resources, credit, and infrastructure because our collective thriving depends on it.
JOY & RESISTANCE
We affirm that queer joy, creativity, and cultural expression are themselves acts of resistance. Art is not a luxury — it is how our communities survive, liberate, heal, and dream of our future.
FUNCTIONALITY
Los Angeles is a multimodal city. We are committed to building a coalition that is led and governed using a framework that is both functional and aligned with our stated values.
SINCE 2025
Founded in 2025, following a wave of local and national rollbacks targeting LGBTQ+ rights—including arts institutions preemptively withdrawing support under political pressure—One Institute convened a group of LGBTQ+ artists, arts workers, organizations, and culture makers to respond. This cross-disciplinary gathering laid the groundwork for a lasting regional alliance dedicated to collective defense, public visibility, creative resistance, and building power as a sector. LA LGBTQ+ Arts & Culture Coalition now includes 40+ partner organizations and hundreds of individual members. Our work spans Hollywood, Boyle Heights, Long Beach, the San Fernando Valley and beyond.
STEERING COMMITTEE
LA LGBTQ+ Arts & Culture Coalition is guided by a Steering Committee drawn from across the coalition's artist, art worker, and organizational membership. The Steering Committee meets bi-weekly and undertakes the day-to-day work of the coalition and provides strategic direction, accountability, and shared governance for the coalition's programs, partnerships, and advocacy work.
In alignment with our Design Principles + Values — shared power, horizontal leadership, transparency, and radical reimagining — the Steering Committee embodies the diversity of the LGBTQ+ communities it represents. Expanding beyond our founding membership allows us to build a leadership body that reflects multiple perspectives, identities, and lived experiences, ensuring no single voice or institutional lens dominates.
Our Steering Committee is structured around three queer pillars — Visibility, Resistance, and Power — each branching into two core areas that define the coalition's work:
VISIBILITY
RESISTANCE
POWER
CURRENT MEMBERS
Executive Director, Angelsgate
Associate Curator, The Performance Art Museum
Artist, Arts Administrator, Community Leader, Writer & Curator
RENT Poet, Get Lit - Words Ignite and UCLA Extension Writers Program
Entertainer, Fashionista and Advocate
Executive Director, Celebration Theatre
Executive Director, California LGBT Arts Alliance
Curator and Founder, Edward Cella Arts & Architecture
Emeritus Professor of the Practice of Arts Leadership, USC
Performance Artist, Teacher, Organizer, Associate Consultant and Compiler
Co-Founder & Executive Director, Feminist Work Center for Creative Work
Vice Chair, LA County LGBTQ+ Commission
Executive Director, One Institute and Member LA County LGBTQ+ Commission