Queens Pride House at Queens Borough Hall

History

Founded in January of 1997, Queens Pride House (QPH) began as a casual meeting among friends and colleagues in the LGBTQ community in Queens. After an official meeting at Elmhurst Hospital, the group formed a board and solidified Queens Pride House as an organization, incorporating it as a 501(c)(3). Later that year, members of the group met with then-Borough President Claire Shulman, who offered them room 325 in Queens Borough Hall, in Kew Gardens, for organizational meetings, clinics, and support groups. A designated LGBTQ community space operating in a government building such as Queens Borough Hall at this time was rare and an indicator of welcome change appearing in the boroughs outside Manhattan.

Queens Pride House was founded by prominent Queens LGBTQ activists Maritza Martinez, Pauline Park, Daniel Dromm, Father John Azzali, Jim Blanton, and Daniel Castellanos, all of whom served in inaugural leadership roles and on the Board of Directors. QPH helped fill a gap in services for LGBTQ people in Queens at a time when these were primarily available in Manhattan. Other community spaces in the 1990s included SAGE/Queens Clubhouse, in Astoria, for elders and a youth center in Corona run by the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee. Services at QPH focused on the specific needs of immigrants, with many events held for Spanish speakers.

Queens Pride House provided community space and information for queer residents in their home borough. Events during this time consisted of youth group meetings, referral programs for LGBTQ-welcoming health, legal, and professional services providers, as well as artist showcases, gatherings, and parties.

Co-founders Martinez and Dromm also co-founded the Queens Pride Parade in 1993 following the murder of Julio Rivera in Jackson Heights and the controversy surrounding the Children of the Rainbow curriculum. Park, a notable trans activist, led a successful campaign for the passage of the Transgender Rights Bill, enacted by the New York City Council in 2002, which amended the city’s Human Rights Law to include protections based on gender identity and gender expression against discrimination in housing, public accommodations, or employment (the same law that had been amended in 1986 to include protections based on sexual orientation). She also co-founded the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA), the first transgender association in the state. In 1996, prominent LGBTQ ally and PFLAG co-founder Jeanne Manford donated proceeds from the sale of her furniture in her Flushing, Queens, house to support the budding Queens Pride House.

The group, seeking more space and visibility for client services and events, eventually outgrew its room at Queens Borough Hall. In 2001, Queens Pride House relocated to a storefront space in Woodside and later to Jackson Heights, where it remains today. The founding of QPH, along with the Queens Pride Parade, Queens Gays and Lesbians United (Q-GLU), and other groups and initiatives, demonstrated a growing visible LGBTQ presence in the borough.

Entry by Julia Bucci, project consultant (November 2025).

NOTE: Names above in bold indicate LGBT people.