Project underway to preserve Sacramento's LGBTQ+ history, could deem Lavender Heights historic district
SACRAMENTO -- A project underway for the entirety of the year looks to preserve and protect Sacramento's rich LGBTQ+ history.
The city's historic preservation team got a grant totaling $40,000 from the California Office of Historic Preservation in late 2023 to get started. The City of Sacramento will match more than $26,000.
The project launched in January 2024 as leaders are on a mission to create what they hope will be the most extensive historic archive of the important people, places and landmarks that define Sacramento's longstanding LGBTQ+ scene.
It all starts in Sacramento's Lavender Heights district, a popular stretch of midtown at 20th and K Streets.
"It's such a cultural hub and it always has been," preservation planner Henry Feuss said.
The lively street is home to Sacramento's LGBTQ+ nightlife and other community staples like the Midtown Farmer's Market. The preservation team will study if Lavender Heights should be officially deemed a historic district.
"Historically, this was the only place that LGBTQ+ folks could interact with each other," Feuss said. "Sacramento has a very diverse and thriving LGBTQ+ community and it has had one for a very long time."
Much of that history is hidden in plain sight at places like the Sacramento LGBT Community Center.
"I think a lot of people in Sacramento are surprised to hear the center has been here for decades," said Priya Kumar, marketing director for the center.
It now sits in a large building on 20th Street in the Lavender Heights district, but it got its start right down the road in a quaint Victorian house. It was first founded as a nonprofit in 1978, called the Lambda Community Fund.
"I think the mission from the late '70s to now is the same," Kumar said. "The more we see ourselves represented and recognized in communities like ours, I think it can be life-saving in the long run."
In 1986, the Lambda Community Center was opened to serve as a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community at a time when those were rare.
"We're still fighting, but it's also good to see how much we've grown since then," Kumar said.
A picture of Reverand Jerry Sloan hangs on the wall at the center. His 1984 legal battle with a local reverend named Jerry Falwell over hateful public messaging about the gay community was the first chapter of the center's history.
"Jerry Sloan sued Falwell, got the money, and used that money to start the center," Kumar said.
The money built what still stands today: a center for community, inclusion and connection to vital resources. It also hosts Sacramento's annual Pride parade.
"So we are hoping to identify more things like that that might have been swept under the rug over the years," Feuss said.
Feuss added that there will be community meetings throughout the year about this project, which will be moving full steam ahead from now through December. The preservation team wants community input on people and places that should be included.
For more information on the project and how to get involved, visit this website.