Placer County LGBTQ+ center to open next month after nonprofit raises $250K
After years of fundraising, a nonprofit group has secured more than $250,000 to open Placer County’s first physical LGBTQ+ center, set to begin limited operations in January.
Placer LGBTQ+ Center has signed a three-year lease for a space in Roseville. While a formal opening is planned later in the year, the center will open by appointment or on an as-needed basis beginning next month, said Daniella Zimmerman, chair of the Placer LGBTQ+ Center’s board of directors.
The center will offer space for community groups to hold meetings and events, including craft nights, game nights and other social activities.
The organization also plans to use the space to host legal clinics with attorneys and to provide referrals to queer-friendly mental health professionals and other service providers, Zimmerman said.
“We’re at the stage where we’re going to be outfitting the center so that it is functional and welcoming and safe and secure,” Zimmerman said.
How did Placer LGBTQ+ Center raise money?
The group’s main fundraiser is its annual Pride event at Royer Park in Roseville. The event is free to attend, but the organization raises money through sponsorships and vendor fees, Zimmerman said. In May, more than 2,500 people attended and over 80 vendors participated.
“We had a house party that raised quite a bit of money. We had a donor that gave us a very large donation. We had Placer Community Foundation support us with some grants, and just plain everyday people giving money,” said Cindy Baudoin, who serves on the Placer LGBTQ+ Center Board of Directors and is the chief financial officer.
One such fundraiser was local activist George Raya.
Raya won a lawsuit against Sacramento State in 1971 after the university rejected the club charter for the Society for Homosexual Freedom, lobbied to pass a law that decriminalized sex between same-sex consenting adults in California in 1975 and attended the 1977 meeting of the National Gay Task Force at the White House, he said.
Raya’s 75th birthday party in 2024, held at Faces Nightclub, raised money for the center. At the time, the group was 40% of the way to their original goal of $75,000, Zimmerman said.
“I’m giving them all the support I can do, and that is my own money and money that I can raise for them,” Raya said.
The organization obtained its tax-exempt status in 2014 under the name PRISM-Q LGBT & Allies Resource Center, but currently does business as the Placer LGBTQ+ Center. It continues to seek recurring donors and grants to sustain the center. In the long term, Zimmerman said, the group hopes to use sustainable funds to purchase or build its own facility.
Why does Placer County need an LGBTQ+ center?
Sacramento is home to LGBTQ+ community centers that serve the capital region, but it was important to the Placer organization to have a location more easily accessible to them close to home.
“A physical center gives them a safe space where they can go, communicate with each other, get assistance,” Raya said.
Zimmerman and Baudoin said discrimination persists for LGBTQ+ and marginalized people in Placer County despite changing attitudes among its residents.
“Most of, if not all, of the local school district boards are heavily dominated by folks who are very unaccepting and hostile to the LGBTQ+ community, and that is harmful to their students and their families and staff,” Zimmerman said.
Lincoln, a city in Placer County, made national headlines this week after a video of a city councilmember’s comments about the LGBTQ+ community at a meeting of Club America, associated with slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s organization Turning Point USA, sparked controversy and protests.
In September 2023, the Rocklin Unified School District adopted a policy requiring school staff to inform parents if their child makes a request to use a different name, different pronouns or use facilities that do not match their biological sex, indicating a change in their gender identity. In November, the Roseville Joint Union High School District passed a similar policy that broadened parental access to student information but did not specifically mention gender identity.
“What we’re seeing is that it appears that staff, whether that’s teachers, administrators or counselors, seem hesitant to even share resource information with students. I think they’re worried they’re going to get push back from parents,” Zimmerman said. “But in the meantime, kids are not getting the support that they need, and it’s causing harm. We’re losing kids.”
A 2024 survey from the Trevor Project, a nonprofit suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ+ people, showed 35% of LGBTQ+ young people in California seriously considered suicide in the past year and 11% attempted suicide. Additionally, 50% of surveyed teens wanted but did not receive mental health care. The organization said LGBTQ+ teens are “at higher risk because of how they are mistreated and stigmatized in society.”
Claire Coleman, the center’s volunteer coordinator who helps organize activities, said creating a safe space allows people of all ages to not feel alone and creates visibility for the LGBTQ+ community in Placer.
“It reinforces that you know that we’ve always been present, and that we will continue to be present in the community,” Coleman said. “We’re not going to be sidelined. We’re just out there like anyone else.”
This story was originally published December 17, 2025 at 3:14 PM.
