Find your people at one of our social groups.

Whether you’re looking to find other queer people with shared experiences, combat isolation and loneliness, or hope to improve your overall mental health, The Center’s social groups are safe and welcoming spaces to be in community with other LGBTQ+ people.

Meet over 150+ community members leading healthy and successful lives in NYC. Take the first step towards building lasting connections, join a social group today.

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Find Your Circle: Social Support Groups by The Center

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Meet Joanna

Queer people are deeply creative, fun, and resilient, so I love getting a chance to meet and build relationships with so many people in our community every day. Queer safety has always been crucial to our sense of well-being, and working at The Center allows me to be part of building and maintaining that queer safety.
Joanna McClintick

They/Them

Meet Our Facilitators

Felipe Alvear

He/Him/Él

LGBTQIA+ Immigrants United

Felipe is a Colombian advocate who has collaborated and volunteered with different non-profit organizations focused on LGBTQIA+ immigrants, youth, and HIV/AIDS services. Felipe has an engineering background, and in the last seven years, he has found a great passion for social justice, equity, and social work. Felipe is currently working as a full-time staff member at The LGBT Community Center, providing leadership and management for a variety of groups for the LGBTQIA+ communities.

Librada González Fernández

She/Her/Ella

Stories

Librada is a trans researcher and archivist born in Cuba. In 2019, she created Archivo Cubanecuir, a collection dedicated to recovering and preserving historical documents about the Cuban LGBTI+ experiences. As an independent archivist, Librada strives to prioritize the most marginalized queer narratives that remain ignored by institutional archives. She is currently working on a book which will document the history of trans and gender non-conforming Cubans in burlesque and drag.

Leo Koulish

He/They/Elle

LGBTQIA+ & Disability Pride

Leo is a Trans, Disabled, of Colombian heritage, Jewish artist, activist, and Social Justice student at NYU. From Baltimore City, they moved to NYC to pursue schooling along with his art. He has worked within the LGBTQ+ community, focusing on both queer youth and elders, attempting to bridge generational gaps within our community. Leo is super passionate about the documentation of queerness as archival material and spends their free time working as a freelance photographer/photojournalist, along with hanging out with their cats. 

Keona T. Lewis

She/Her

Stories

Keona is deemed an icon and a two-time Hall Of Famer recipient in the mainstream ballroom circuit. She has been competing and walking since 1993 in many categories, but her main category was Realness. She still stands today proudly- as many of our ladies are no longer here.  She works at Columbia University’s ICAP Harlem Prevention Center, where she is the first African American woman of trans experience in her role as a Peer Navigator for health services. Her goal is to make a difference in our communities, especially our communities of color and women of trans experience. 

Victor Navas

He/Him/Él

English as a Second Language (ESL) Conversational Program

Victor was born in Venezuela, and has been a languages teacher for 12 years instructing English and Spanish as a second language. He has taught languages in North Carolina for 5 years, and currently works designing strategies to create cultural diversity activities to teach languages in a meaningful way. Victor is eager to welcome students into a classroom that fosters a caring environment for learning, where they can feel safe and also challenged to grow in knowledge of the language and the culture behind it.

Yonatan Matheus

Cualquier pronombre

Conexión Positiva
Expresión Latinx LGBTQIA+

Yonatan es un exiliado gay venezolano, defensor de derechos humanos y trabajador social que huyó de Venezuela en 2016 luego de sufrir persecución, y violencia por parte del crimen organizado y miembros de la dictadura venezolana. Es voluntario desde 2016 en Venezuelans & Immigrants Aid, organización comunitaria que trabaja por la población venezolana migrante forzada en New York City. Fundador y Directivo de América Diversa Inc, organización comprometida con la promoción de los Derechos Humanos, la educación y el empoderamiento de las personas LGBTQ+ latinas refugiadas, solicitantes de asilo e inmigrantes en la ciudad de Nueva York.

Tadeo Miller-Castro

He/They

Oasis

Tadeo is a queer, Black and of Chicano descent from Portland. He moved to NYC to pursue his studies in sociology at NYU where he is on the executive boards of two queer clubs. He has  formerly worked as a contractor and intern for multiple queer organizations. Currently he is the support group facilitator for genderqueer youth at Patchwork. He is a cat dad, a chai latte enthusiast. He likes to watch video essays on societal issues and culture, go to the gym, and advocate for the QTBIPOC community in his free time. He is also interested in reconnecting with his Black and Chicano spirituality.

Wendell Oviedo

Cualquier pronombre

Inmigrantes LGBTQIA+
Expresión Latinx LGBTQIA+

Soy Wendell, activista LGBTQIA+, miembro de la Directiva de Venezuela Diversa desde el 2014, trabajando temas relacionados con la educación para la no discriminación por orientación sexual e identidad de género, campañas de prevención en el área de la salud sexual, y organización de actividades públicas para visibilizar los derechos LGBTQIA+. Integrante de Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid desde 2016 y parte del equipo fundacional y directivo de América Diversa Inc, que desde 2020 trabaja para promover derechos LGBTQIA+ de personas Latinas refugiadas, solicitantes de asilo y migrantes en New York City.

Annie Schneider

She/Her

Good Grief

Annie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She is trained in palliative care social work, and specializes in oncology, end of life, bereavement, and LGBTQIA+ health. Originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, Annie now lives in Brooklyn, New York. She works as an inpatient social worker and is co-coordinator of the bereavement program at a cancer center in New York City. There, she is also part of the LGBTQIA+ Clinical Advisory Committee, and the Social Work Antiracism Committee. When not working Annie enjoys comedy, long walks, and learning about LGBTQIA+ history.

Harinauth “Sunny” Ramsingh

Sunny or He/Him

LGBTQIA+ Immigrants United

Harinauth, also known as Sunny, is a Guyanese activist who has been working on providing a safe and friendly space for LGBTQIA+ Immigrants. In the last few years, Sunny has worked as a health educator, increasing awareness within the LGBTQIA+ immigrant community to develop positive networks of support.

Ace Sutherland

They/Them

Harmonies
Rhythms

Ace is a Black queer activist and content creator who focuses on a variety of social justice issues with an emphasis on the equality of Black & TGNC communities. Ace is a full-time Senior Policy Analyst at an NYC think tank that advocates for immigration rights across the nation. Also, Ace likes and enjoys playing video games with their friends in their free time.

Riqi Velez

He/They

Thriving Together

Riqi was born in Queens and raised in the moderate southern mini metropolis of Charlotte, NC. After studying Musical Theatre, they joined a couple of short tours with the show Grease, as well has played many nightclubs both as a boy band member (BN2 and Platnym) and later as a solo artist. He is also a member of the uber social justice promoting Middle Collegiate Church, a multicultural, multi-ethnic, inter-generational movement of Spirit and justice, powered by Revolutionary Love. Since the beginning days of Pandemia, Riqi has dedicated themselves to educate and elevate the communities of LGBTQIA + youth and elders, people living with HIV, BIPOC, and our new migrant neighbors from below “the border.”