PEORIA, Ill. – The first home base for Peoria’s LGBTQ+ community opened its doors Monday.
Friends of Central Illinois cut the ribbon on its new location on East War Memorial Drive with supporters in attendance. The building offers healthcare services, counseling and psychiatric services, and is a community center with a library and meeting spaces.
Executive Director Deric Kimler envisions the building as a place for everyone to come together to be themselves and have deep conversations.
He says the building was a “long time coming” after more than five years of work to find a home.
“When you do things for those reasons, it shouldn’t be quick,” Kimler said. “Nothing worth doing is easy. It takes hard work and effort to get here, and I’m proud to finally cut that ribbon.”
Kimler says the day selected to cut the ribbon on the community center was not a coincidence for multiple reasons.
The ceremony occurred on Martin Luther King Junior Day. Kimler says King surrounded himself with LGBTQ activists, and it’s a part of history that is not talked about much. The day also falls on the inauguration of President Donald Trump, with Kimler believing that the next four years will be tough for the LGBTQ+ community in, not just central Illinois, but across the country.
One of those in attendance at the ribbon cutting was 17th District Congressman Eric Sorensen (D-Molin), who is openly gay. He says he’s seen the impact of what an LGBTQ+ community center can do, citing serving on the board of Clock Inc. in the Quad Cities.
“Just when you stand on the corner on youth night, and you see all of these kids that are allowed to be themselves that are welcomed, and how wonderful and valuable that is, I cannot wait for that to occur here,” Sorensen said.
Sorensen says a place such as an LGBTQ+ community center could have supported and guided him in his youth.
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