Montgomery County’s first LGBTQ+ resource center will open in downtown Bethesda later this summer, following years of advocacy by local leaders about the need for a safe space for queer and trans residents.
The brick-and-mortar space will be operated by MoCo Pride Center, an organization that promotes health and well-being and offers services and social events for the local LGBTQ+ community, with support from the county government. It will be located in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center at 4805 Edgemoor Lane, according to county officials.
“Every single individual, especially our queer, trans and gender expansive siblings, absolutely belong here, and this space is made for them,” said Phillip Alexander Downie, CEO of the MoCo Pride Center, told Bethesda Today on Wednesday. “We are saying, ‘You belong in Montgomery County, and our Montgomery County government, our leadership, our elected officials, wholly support you. They wholly support your identity, and we are actively creating spaces to ensure that you can live your most authentic life.’ ”
Founded in 2017, the organization has a history of partnering with other major LGBTQ+ advocacy and resource organizations, such as Trans Maryland, which focuses on supporting the state’s transgender residents. The MoCo Pride Center has hosted support groups, HIV testing days, drag performances, and other activities – but it has never had a brick-and-mortar headquarters.
“I can’t believe this is finally happening,” Downie said. “It’s really going to be fabulous.”
Downie and other local advocates have been advocating for a center for years, and the County Council and County Executive Marc Elrich (D) first set aside money in the county’s fiscal year 2025 operating budget to support its development last year. That came after Downie and other local LGBTQ+ advocates shared at public hearings that their resources were overextended, and that more community members needed support.
Plans to develop the resource center were first publicly announced at a county Trans Day of Visibility event in March, and Elrich said at the county’s Pride flag-raising ceremony in Rockville on Tuesday that the center would open in a space at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center.
The new center comes as President Donald Trump has taken a hard line in regards to several LGBTQ+ issues. Several of the Trump administration’s actions have been called out by LGBTQ+ community leaders and elected officials. President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders regarding transgender identity since his inauguration in January, including one declaring the administration would only recognize “two unchangeable sexes,” an order that aims to ban trans people from serving in the military and an order that aims to limit access to gender-affirming health care, PBS reported.
Trump has expressed his support for ending certain rights for transgender Americans, according to The Washington Post, and previously expressed disappointment at the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.
Project 2025, an initiative from conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation that provided a framework for the Trump administration’s actions, takes a more explicit approach to these issues, according to Axios. The initiative’s agenda proposes stripping anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBTQ+ Americans, including workplace protections. It also calls for ending federal funding for LGBTQ+ health initiatives and is particularly hostile about trans health care access.
During a virtual media briefing hosted by Elrich on Wednesday, Dr. Amena Johnson, the county’s LGBTQ+ Community Liaison, said she is concerned about how actions by the Trump administration are impacting the local queer and trans community.
“I’m particularly concerned for trans youth and their parents, because it is very clear… that this administration is trying to criminalize trans parents that support their children, but also anyone who supports trans people and trans youth,” Johnson said.
She also said that federal defunding of the portion of the 988 mental health crisis hotline that is focused on supporting the LGBTQ+ community is concerning, which she said emphasizes the need for the county to step in and provide support.
Wellness services, support groups and events
Downie said the current plan is for the center to be open daily, and the space will be primarily staffed by MoCo Pride Center employees.
“We want to ensure that any and every day of the week, that we are able to provide services and community and in affirming safe space for our community,” Downie said.
The center will not offer a full-time clinic but will host a rotating cycle of county Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) physicians who will provide a variety of wellness services, including testing for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STI), gynecological and sexual health services and mental health treatment.
DHHS spokesperson Mary Anderson said Thursday in an email to Bethesda Today that the county supports the MoCo Pride Center by providing annual funding and now physical space at the Bethesda/Chevy Chase Regional Services Center.
“The Pride Center is in active discussions with the DHHS Sexual Health and Wellness programs to become an HIV/STI testing partner,” she said.
Another feature of the center will be a library of diverse books for all ages, Downie said. It will be called the Kason Mordechai Smith Library & LGBTQIA+ Archive, named for a Black trans man and Montgomery County resident who died in 2017 at the age of 24. The books will be provided through community donations and by Kind Cotton, a county-based clothing business that donates inclusive books with every purchase.
“That [library] will hold the history and ensure that erasure does not happen of our community’s history or our progress,” Downie said.
The center also is expected to host community support group meetings, and Downie is planning a series of markets showcasing local LGBTQ+-owned businesses. Events will focus on arts, culture and community education, such as musical performances and drag story hours. Downie said trans community members also will be able to get help with changing official documents, such as gender markers and birth certificates.
Downie said that while the new Bethesda center is a big step forward for MoCo Pride Center, the organization will continue to host events and provide resources throughout the county and hopes to eventually launch a mobile center as well as open a space in the Silver Spring and Wheaton area.
“We want to accommodate all of our community members’ needs because Montgomery County is vast and it is beautiful and diverse,” Downie said.
