Here are 18 important LGBTQ+ resources and organizations in Birmingham

2021 Pride
The festivities at Pride 2021, Birmingham! Photo via Toni Reed

We wanted to let you know all the ways you can tap into Birmimgham’s LGBTQ+ community through the arts, advocacy, healthcare, and more. Here are 18 LGBTQ+ resources in Birmingham you need to know about.

Healthcare LGBTQ+ resources in Birmingham

1. AIDS Alabama

Birmingham, AIDS Alabama, , LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
AIDS Alabama supporting their mission to stop the spread of HIV. Photo via AIDS Alabama

AIDS Alabama is huge player in LGBTQ+ resources for HIV/AIDS healthcare throughout Alabama. This organization is dedicated to eradicating AIDS in our state by helping people find treatment and assistance without stigma or judgement. They offer healthcare, case management, housing assistance (including the first homeless youth shelter in Alabama) and policy advocacy.

2. Birmingham AIDS Outreach

Birmingham, Birmingham AIDS Outreach, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
Birmingham AIDS Outreach at SHOUT LBGTQ Film Festival 2018. Photo via Birmingham AIDS Outreach

The first AIDS service organization in Alabama, Birmingham AIDS Outreach (BAO) is dedicated to the fight against HIV and AIDS in the Birmingham area. According to their website “the agency was founded as a ‘grass-roots’ response to the devastating and fatal impact HIV/AIDS was having on the Birmingham community. 

Today Birmingham, AIDS Outreach provides free services to over 800 HIV positive individuals and touches thousands of lives through community events, HIV testing, and prevention outreach.”

3. Magic City Wellness Center

magic city wellness center, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
Magic City Wellness Center is located in the Lakeview District. Photo via Magic City Wellness Center on Facebook

Magic City Wellness Center is the first LGBTQ+ comprehensive healthcare facility in Alabama. According to their website, “The Magic City Wellness Center provides a safe, open and affirming space for LGBTQ individuals to have an open dialogue with a healthcare provider without fear of rejection, embarrassment or discrimination.”

4. El Centro/The Hub

El Centro/The Hub, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
Bham Hub provides a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people of color. Photo via El Centro/The Hub

El Centro/The Hub is “a welcoming, comfortable space that centers the experiences of young gay, bisexual, and transpeople of color but is welcoming to all.”

This new AIDS + PrEP clinic, a project of AIDS Alabama, opened on January 5, 2021 in Lakeview. It’s a center for LGBTQ+ people of color, providing both community and healthcare.

Trans-specific resources

5. TAKE Birmingham

TAKe Birmingham, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
TAKE at Central Alabama Pride in 2018. Photo via TAKE Birmingham

TAKE Birmingham stands for “Transgender Advocates Knowledgeable and Empowering,” and this group is just that.

While the organization began as a support group for trans women of color in the Birmingham area, it has transformed into a wider organization that does the following:

  • advocates for equal housing
  • supports sex workers
  • provides trans-friendly services
  • fights against trans discrimination in the workplace
  • works to alleviate the many other barriers that trans men and women of color face

Learn more: Website | Facebook | Contact

6. Trans in the South

Trans in the South, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
The transgender pride flag. Photo via Sharon McCutcheon

Part of the Campaign for Southern Equality, Trans in the South is a guide to transgender resources in the Alabama and neighboring states. The guide includes information on healthcare providers, mental health counselors and advocacy.

Learn more: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Contact

Education + youth LGBTQ+ resources in Birmingham

7. Magic City Acceptance Center

magic city acceptance center, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
A few of the students served by the Magic City Acceptance Center. Photo via Magic City Acceptance Center

The Magic City Acceptance Center is a Birmingham organization dedicated to providing support and resources for LGBTQ+ individuals. The organization is a project of Birmingham AIDS Outreach (BAO) and offers free programming for LGBTQ+ people of all ages.

8. Magic City Acceptance Academy

MCAA academics, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
Trevor Hauenstein and Charity Jackson are two of the masterminds behind Magic City Acceptance Academy’s plans to foster excellence and innovation. Photo via Jacob Blankenship for Bham Now

Magic City Acceptance Academy is a new public charter school in Homewood that’s LGBTQ+ inclusive and welcoming to all. They’ve got big plans to foster excellence and innovation through project-based learning with real world applications.

They’re still accepting applications for students and are offering a variety of services to help them thriveApply now

Learn more: Website | Facebook | Contact

Parents LGBTQ+ resources in Birmingham

9. PFLAG Birmingham

pflag birmingham, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
PFLAG at UAB’s “On the Green” event. Photo via PFLAG Birmingham

PFLAG stands for “Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.” The Birmingham chapter “advocates full equality and civil rights for all people.” They host monthly peer support groups to help families “dispel myths and stereotypes about sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Learn more: Website | Contact

10. Magic City Parents

LGBTQ+, pride 2021
Magic City Parents aims to provide support to LGBTQ+ families. Photo by Toni Reed

Magic City Parents is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ parents and parents of LGBTQ+ children that provides encouragement and support. “The group seeks to build an inclusive community that nurtures and accepts all types of families. By joining this parenting group, families will have the opportunity to be introduced to families like themselves and create positive relationships that share a common thread—children.”

Learn more: Website | Facebook

Pride

11. Birmingham Black Pride

birmingham black pride, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
Christopher McCummings, Rhonda Lee, Amy Robinson, Tony Walker at the Opening Banquet for Bham Black Pride. Photo via Tony Walker

Founded in 2017, “Birmingham Black Pride is the coming together of the ideas and frustrations of communities of color in Birmingham in their fight to become more involved with the issues that affect them.” They aim to empower and advocate for Birmingham LGBTQ+ people of color.

12. Central Alabama Pride

Birmingham, Central AL Pride, parade, Pridefest LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
One of the most iconic LGBTQ+ events in Birmingham. Photo via Central AL Pride

Central Alabama Pride celebrates LGBTQ+ identities and is “committed to spreading the message of equality each year with the production of our LGBT Pride events which also brings together all Alabama citizens.”

Learn more: Website | Facebook | Contact

Advocacy

13. HRC Alabama

Human rights campaign flag LGBTQ+ rights, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
The HRC logo on a flag. Photo via Matt Popovich

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Alabama arm advocates for “LGBTQ equality alongside lawmakers at the local and state levels across the country.” Currently in Alabama, the HRC is working on Project One, a permanent campaign in several Southern states including Alabama to bring LGBTQ+ equality.

Learn more: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Contact

Arts + athletics

14. Steel City Men’s Chorus

steel city men's chorus, LGBTQ+ chorus, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
The Steel City Men’s Chorus performs at Region Field. Photo via Steel City Men’s Chorus + Blake Britton Photography

The Steel City Men’s Chorus is Birmingham’s premiere gay men’s chorus that began in the summer of 2013. The chorus’s mission is to “to create community, educate, and give voice to LGBTQ issues through music and service.” Anyone 18+ can join the chorus, but only those who identify as male are able to have a singing part.

Learn more: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Contact

15. SHOUT Film Festival

Sidewalk welcomes Sundance Film Festival
Sidewalk Cinema at the Pizitz hosts the SHOUT Film Festival. Photo by Matthew Niblett

SHOUT is Alabama’s first LGBTQ+ film festival, founded in 2006 and is hosted at Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema. SHOUT spotlights films centered on the experiences of LGBTQ+ communities in a range of cinematic mediums, including documentaries and shorts.

Check out a few of the film alumni:

Learn more: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Contact

16. Human Rights New Works Festival

The Human Rights New Works Festival is an annual performing arts festival in Birmingham, hosted at Red Mountain Theatre’s new Parkside campus. The festival is “a conversation and a celebration of that which unites us all – our humanity.”

The festival includes:

  • Staged readings of plays and musicals
  • Fully-produced performances
  • Playwright Q+As
  • Community conversations
  • Panel discussions
  • Commissioned pieces

17. New South Softball League

new south softball LGBTQ+ league, LGBTQ+ Resources and Organizations
The Sliders and Life’s a Pitch at a tournament in Orlando. Photo via New South Softball’s Facebook

New South Softball League is an LGBTQ+ affirming sports team that is part of the North America Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA). This Birmingham softball league was the 12th city to join, creating a space for LGBTQ+ individuals to participate in sports without judgement or discrimination.

They also founded the Southern Shootout Tournament, with the goal of creating the best LGBTQ+ sports tournament in the US.

Learn more: Website | Facebook | Contact

Religious Organizations

18. LGBTQ+ friendly and affirming religious organizations

Temple Emanu-el Birmingham
“My house shall be a house of prayer for all people.” Photo via Sharron Swain for Bham Now

Below are LGBTQ+ friendly and affirming local faith organizations, as noted by Safe Samford, UAB + PFLAG.

You can also visit Gay Church’s website to see what churches near you are LGBTQ+ affirming and/or friendly.

Did we miss one? Let us know at @bhamnow on social media.

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Sabrina Palmer
Sabrina Palmer
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