On Thursday, community leaders and advocates gathered at the Los Angeles LGBT Center for a joyous ribbon-cutting event that ushered in the organization’s revamped tech hub. For 27 years, the organization’s David Bohnett CyberCenter has provided local residents a safe space to utilize computers, printers, scanners, and attend workshop opportunities to build their tech literacy skills, stay connected, discover joy, and research important opportunities.
Here, individuals can safely surf the web, complete online benefits and services forms, apply for jobs, as well as make progress towards educational programs. It’s a safe space where LGBTQ+ community members can reliably use technology that can provide them with vital avenues into improving and living their lives.
The CyberCenter is funded by the David Bohnett Foundation, which provides grants to various LGBTQ+ initiatives and social programs nationally in order to improve equity for different marginalized communities. In 1998, the foundation established its first tech hub at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, so that queer community members would not be shut away as technological advancements made online access increasingly necessary. “The idea was simple but urgent,” Bohnett said at yesterday’s ceremony. “[It was meant] to ensure that LGBTQ+ people had access to the technology that could open doors to education, employment, and connection.”