LIFE

06/01/2026

It’s always a joy to be in Newport News for the I Am What I Am Pride Festival at Tradition Brewing Company! 🌈

This event is one of our favorite ways to kick off Pride Month, and the team at Traditions Brewing always does an incredible job bringing community together.

We also had the chance to say hello to friends, including Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones, and spend the day connecting with so many wonderful community members.

A huge thank you to our staff, volunteers, community partners, and everyone who stopped by our booth to say hello. Pride is about connection, visibility, and showing up for one another, and this event was a beautiful reminder of that. 💜

06/01/2026

Today, we joined IKEA Norfolk for their Pride flag raising, a reminder that visibility matters, community matters, and showing up matters.

We’re grateful for partners like IKEA who continue to support LGBTQ+ people not just during Pride, but year-round.

Thank you for helping create a Hampton Roads where everyone can feel seen, welcomed, and celebrated. 🏳️‍🌈

05/29/2026

We’re honored to be a beneficiary of Elton John Impact Awards, celebrating the changemakers who are redefining culture and uplifting the LGBTQ+ community. 🌈

Because of this support and visibility from The Elton John Impact Awards, Procter & Gamble and Looking Out Foundation, LGBT Life Center is able to offer free HIV and STI testing to our community.

This year’s honorees, including Jonathan Bailey, Laverne Cox, Melissa Etheridge, Billie Jean King, Orville Peck, and Chappell Roan, have driven change, shaped culture, and made a positive impact on society.

05/28/2026

A quick heads up! 📞💻

Our phones and internet are taking a few intermittent breaks today (we wish they had asked for PTO first 😅).

We’re actively working on the issue and hope to have everything back up and running soon. If you’re having trouble reaching us, thank you for your patience while we get things sorted!

💖 We appreciate you hanging in there with us.

05/28/2026

Words shape how we understand ourselves, our communities, and the world around us. 📚

This week for AAPI Heritage Month, we’re highlighting AAPI voices in literature: poets, novelists, storytellers, and writers whose work explores identity, family, q***rness, belonging, resilience, grief, joy, and what it means to find your place in the world.

From the deeply moving work of Ocean Vuong to the storytelling of Celeste Ng, Kimiko Hahn, Keala Kendall, Elisa A. Bonnin, and T. Kira Māhealani Madden, these writers remind us that stories don’t just entertain us, they help us understand ourselves and each other.

Swipe through to learn more and maybe find your next great read. ✨

05/27/2026

Sometimes healing starts with realizing you’re not alone.

Reclaiming Safety & Self is a new monthly support group for LGBTQIA+ individuals impacted by intimate partner violence (IPV).

This space is about reconnecting with yourself, building safety, exploring healthy relationships, and healing in community, without judgment, pressure, or having to explain your identity.

Whether you’re processing something recent, something from long ago, or just trying to better understand your experiences, you are welcome here. 💛

📍 LGBT Life Center – Norfolk
🕕 6:00–7:30 PM
📅 Monthly series beginning June 11

Topics throughout the series include boundaries, trauma, power and control, resilience, and rebuilding.

Questions? Contact [email protected].

05/26/2026

We’re incredibly honored to share that LGBT Life Center has been voted Favorite LGBTQ+ Nonprofit and Favorite LGBTQ+ Employer in the Outlife757 2026 HRVA Gay Readers Poll 🏳️‍🌈💙

To everyone who voted, supported us, trusted us with your care, worked alongside us, partnered with us, or simply believed in what we do, thank you.

These recognitions mean so much because they come from our community.

05/25/2026

Join us for Pride Night at Dr. Smile, a powerful new musical based on the true story of Dr. Valli Meeks, a young Black dentist who stood alongside her HIV+ patients in 1989 Baltimore, fighting for care, dignity, and respect during the height of the HIV epidemic.

Told through contemporary pop and folk music, Dr. Smile is more than a story about medicine and activism. It’s about love, resilience, chosen family, and the people who changed one another’s lives.
Let’s show up and support q***r storytelling, HIV history, and local theater. ❤️

🎭 Dr. Smile: A New Musical – Pride Night
📍 Zeiders American Dream Theater, Virginia Beach
📅 May 29
🕢 7:30 PM

🎟️ Use code SHAREASMILE for $5 off tickets:
https://thez.org/event/dr-smile-a-new-musical/

Book by Clyde Santana, Valli Meeks & Kira Sarai Helper Lyrics by Kira Sarai Helper and Clyde Santana Music by Kira Sarai Helper In 1989, as fear closed doors to […]

05/25/2026

🎭✨ YOUTH PRIDE IS HERE ✨🎭

Get ready for a night of fun, connection, and community at Youth Pride: Masquerade!

Whether you come masked up or just as yourself, this is your space to celebrate Pride, meet new people, and vibe with people like you.

🩷 Your vibes. Your party. Your people.

📍 Mudita Cafe
📅 June 23
🕠 5:30–8:30 PM
🎭 Theme: Masquerade

Guardians welcome, not required.

RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhQ0nsfP-UEid3_V9xgcppx1MydGJwWLkPehJw4N_w3ypwoA/viewform

05/24/2026

Today, we remember and honor the service members who gave their lives in service to our country.

That remembrance includes LGBTQ+ service members who served with courage, often at times when they could not safely or openly be themselves.

For generations, many served in silence. Still, they showed up. Still, they served. Still, they sacrificed.
This Memorial Day, we honor all who gave their lives in service, and reflect on the courage, sacrifice, and hope for a world where no one has to hide who they are to serve it.

❤️🤍💙