After several years of development, organization and advocacy, Montgomery County will receive its first LGBTQ+ center when the Montgomery County Pride Family Resource Center (shortened to MoCo Pride Center) opens in Bethesda on Saturday, Aug. 30. The center will combine the services of many Montgomery County LGBTQ+ resource and advocacy groups, including Live In Your Truth, Trans Maryland, The Coalition for Inclusive Schools and Communities and MoCo Pride Prom.
It’s a landmark moment for Montgomery County’s LGBTQ+ community, who have not had a central location for accessing LGBTQ+ services until now.
The Montgomery County Pride Family, the collective name that Montgomery County’s LGBTQ+ organizations operate under, was first formed in 2017. The establishment of a physical resource center was always an important goal for the organization, though it took several years for those plans to come to fruition.
“Of course, we’ve had centers in Baltimore, Frederick and Washington, D.C., but the most populous county in Maryland has not had one,” says Phillip Alexander Downie, CEO of the Montgomery County Pride Family. Downie is also the executive of Live In Your Truth, which operates under the Pride Family umbrella and helps connect LGBTQ+ people with health and wellness resources.
The Pride Family slowly grew its services, hosting events and providing aid to community members struggling with food and housing insecurities. In 2024, its leadership lobbied the Montgomery County government for resources, and the Montgomery County Council voted unanimously to fund the MoCo Pride Center.
“Instead of asking people to go somewhere they don’t know or haven’t been before, we have a central, in-person hub where these programs can consistently and connectively happen between people,” explains Dr. Madeleine Roepe, program director at the MoCo Pride Center.
The center will offer daily drop-in hours where community members can come in at any time and receive assistance, as well as free healthcare resources, disease testing and in-person clubs and events. As part of its grand opening, the center’s leadership will unveil the Kason Mordechai Smith Books Library and LGBTQIA+ Archive, the first archive in the county dedicated to its LGBTQ+ history.
Downie says that the center is also meant as a safe and inclusive space for LGBTQ+ youth, offering support services, mental health counseling and an after-school athletic program.
“Youth have the ability to create their own spaces and programs,” he explains. “They can suggest programs, and we’ll organize them for them. Our showing up for community members is them telling us what they need and us delivering on those services. That’s how many of our services have come about.”
Before the center’s grand opening, the MoCo Pride Center and Live In Your Truth are hosting a Back to School Block Party on Friday, Aug. 22. They are currently accepting donations for new and gently-used clothing and school supplies that will be distributed to people in need at the event. For more information, visit mocopridefamily.org.
