I had planned to write this week about some of the new upcoming events at The Center, and invite people to get involved in the New Year. In response to your community survey feedback requesting even more fun, social and low-cost events, one in particular (Two Cents with Aaron Heier) should be interesting!

While I will stick to my plan to share with you some highlights of what we will be offering the community this month, I would be remiss if I didn’t address the question many of you have asked me via phone, email, Facebook, etc.: “What’s going on with Pride?” Many of you have already read or heard about the current challenges at San Diego LGBT Pride, and if you have not yet, you can do so in the news stories of this week’s Gay & Lesbian Times, GLTNewsNow.com or SDGLN. While the facts are still being sorted out, there are some basic things I want to help make clear.

While the San Diego LGBT Community Center cares deeply about the well-being of the Pride organization, and we have appreciated its efforts and support over the years, we do not manage or oversee the operations of San Diego LGBT Pride. San Diego LGBT Pride is its own 501(c) 3 organization, with its own mission, staff and board of directors. The contact information for them can be located on their website: www.sdpride.org

That being said, The Center and San Diego LGBT Pride enjoy a collaborative relationship that goes back more than three decades. The commitment of our board of directors and senior team in light of Pride’s current challenges continues: we will help in any way we are asked and are able.

The issues that have been raised thus far are troubling and, if true, certainly merit the community call for complete factual information, transparency and accountability. It is our hope that these issues will be resolved quickly, with the best interests of the community and the organization as the central focus.

San Diego LGBT Pride is one of our community’s oldest and most valued events, and we are certain that community members and organizations will want to respond in ways that will help to ensure whatever changes in the structure and event may be necessary to secure the future of the event and the organization.

To that end, we are encouraged that a number of community members, leaders and former San Diego LGBT Pride board members have called for a community town hall meeting, and The Center will provide the space for that meeting. It will take place on Sun., Jan. 10 at 6pm here at The Center, 3909 Centre Street, 92103. Clearly, more information will be forthcoming and we hope Sunday’s meeting will be an enlightening and productive one that begins to address whatever the challenges may be.

Now, I do want to share two events that are coming up at The Center that you won’t want to miss. The first is our Community Coalition Breakfast featuring State Assembly Speaker-Elect John A. Pérez here at The Center on Friday, Jan. 22. The event will kick off the 2010 Quarterly Community Breakfast series and will begin at 7:30 am. Assemblymember Pérez recently made history when his colleagues elected him Speaker of the California Assembly, making him the third most powerful officeholder in California and the first gay man to assume the Speakership. He will address the challenges we face as a state, as well as the importance of coalition building. A full breakfast is available for $10, coffee and tea are complimentary. RSVPs are not required. For more information on this event, please contact Carlos Marquez at 619-692-2077 or at cmarquez@thecentersd.org.

On Tuesday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m., we will also begin a new series, “Two Cents with Aaron Heier,” a new Men @ The Center monthly event. The inaugural guest for this entertaining, informative and interactive event will be Joseph Christopher Rocha, the gay Navy veteran whose horrific story of hazing, harassment and abuse while serving as a dog handler in the Middle East has made international news. Rocha will talk about how he met these challenges in a talk-show style format that will be followed by a cocktail hour featuring food from Gossip Grill. For more information on “Two Cents,” please contact Jeff Wergeles at 619-692-2077 or at jwergeles@thecentersd.org.

As we work together to meet our collective challenges, we look forward to seeing you at The Center in 2010.