The Los Angeles LGBT Center, the world’s largest LGBT organization, announces “50 Years of Queer,” the jubilant campaign to commemorate its 50th anniversary.

Throughout 2019, the center’s signature events and other community-focused occasions will celebrate the organization’s half-century milestone.

“This is a historic moment for the center and for the LGBT community,” LGBT Center CEO Lorri L. Jean said. “Fifty years ago, a small group of volunteers banded together and decided to change the world. Perhaps that’s not how they thought of it, but that’s what happened. What began as a vision for helping members of our community developed into what’s now the largest LGBT organization, with nearly 700 employees, thousands of volunteers and supporters, and many more thousands of people whose lives have been changed for the better. What better way to celebrate who we are, where we’ve come from, and where we’re going than with a year-long set of opportunities for everyone to get involved.”

The year-long celebration will feature two landmark events that will serve as centerpieces of the anniversary festivities.

On April 7, the center will open the two-acre Anita May Rosenstein Campus, a first-of-its-kind complex in Hollywood which will offer comprehensive multigenerational services and 100 beds for homeless youth, a new Senior Community Center and Youth Academy, and expanded programming and administrative space. Phase 2, scheduled to open in early 2020, will include 99 units of affordable housing for seniors and 25 supportive housing apartments for youth.

On Sept. 21, a star-studded celebration and concert at the Greek Theatre will feature musical headliners and special guests, preceded by a sit-down gala dinner.

In celebration of “50 Years of Queer,” events throughout the year will integrate important historical and cultural themes that highlight not only the history of the center, but the LGBT movement at large. Among those events will be a special year-long Big Queer Convo panel series documenting the impact of LGBT people on the entertainment and news media over the last half-century, beginning on Jan. 30 with “The New Normal: Television and the Emergence of LGBT Identities.”

For information and the complete list of events, visit lalgbtcenter.org/50.