South Florida GLCC Gets New Home

The Gay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida is moving to an multimillion-dollar, six-acre campus with a waterfront view and Wilton Manors address. Activists say the new digs will go a long way to address the needs of an increasingly assertive and growing gay community.

”The Campus,” however, would reach out to the heterosexual population as well.

”Sexual orientation and gender identity are relevant issues for every human on this planet,” said Paul Hyman, executive director of the GLCC. “We want this new campus to be a resource of not only the [gay] community, but an environment of safety and fairness for all people.”

The new location at 2040 N. Dixie Hwy., the former site of a telecommunications company, is more than double the size of the group’s current Fort Lauderdale headquarters.

It would house an array of activities and services, including a cybercafe, HIV counseling center, methamphetamine treatment center, theater and conference center and a catering kitchen that could be equipped to serve up to 200 people. Possibly, memorial services and weddings could be held on the grassy patch of land along the Middle River riverfront that abuts the property.

Also on the campus would be a church — Church of the Holy SpiritSong, which is also found on its current site — as well as other religious groups.

”In addition to social needs and healthcare needs, we want to address spirituality,” Hyman said.

That’s good news for the church’s Rev. Leslie Tipton. The church now does not have a permanent home, and she wouldn’t have to take down the video projector after services.

”This is a blessing,” she says.

Read the rest of the story at miamiherald.com.