UGLA’s May 2023 President’s Message

What a wonderful celebration on April 16 commemorating UGLA’s 40th Anniversary and Installation of Officers.

And we’re not stopping.

Our June 11 PRIDE Mixer at the Women’s 20th Century Club will again feature the awarding of UGLA Scholarships to deserving graduating high school seniors. There will be a catered buffet. UGLA members may attend at no charge, guests pay $40.00. Last year this event proved to be one of the highlights of the year.

UGLA’s Scholarship Committee is in high gear and applications are arriving from students throughout Los Angeles County. We are happy to be working with ED Tony Valenzuela of ONE Archives Foundation and its new Education Director Trevor Ladner as well as the LAPD Cadet Program for Youth.

UGLA is sponsoring the April-June Bob Baker Marionette Theater (BBMT) production of “FIESTA!,” a love letter to Latin America. Mary Thompson and Mary Fagot are two of the young women charged with guiding the growth and programming of BBMT. I had the pleasure of meeting with them at their Theater and was impressed, again, by what they are doing. Their hope is that audiences who see “Fiesta!,” enjoy a “new celebration of our community.”

I had time to talk with Isabel Osgood-Roach, the creative force behind Queer Mall where we discussed LGBTQ+ life in Northeast Los Angeles. Isabel said, “My business is basically rooted in the project of selling clothes to my friends & anyone who could be a friend. It’s a project of both identifying/sourcing & creating clothes that are comfortable and life-affirming. The goal is to build a welcoming, inclusive, exciting shopping/ clothes-acquiring environment especially for queer & gender-non conforming pals.”

UGLA’s horizons are not limited or embedded. We are growing and expanding by using the lessons of the last 40 years as the foundation for the future.