An interview with Gerald Garth, the President of Christopher Street West (CSW), the organization that produces the annual LA Pride Parade & Festival
BY MARK ARIEL | PHOTO BY AARON JAY YOUNG
I have had a heart for service and advocacy for as long as I can remember… I stood up to bullies for others as a child. As a teen, I taught Sunday school and organized community action events. As I’ve gotten older, my leadership, activism, and advocacy has expanded. I continue to serve in a number of roles, specifically dedicated to advocating for and amplifying the needs and experiences of many of the most impacted communities,” reveals Gerald Garth, the President of Christopher Street West (CSW), the organization that produces the annual LA Pride Parade & Festival.
Garth, 39, is also the new Executive Director of the AMAAD Institute (Arming Minorities Against Addiction & Disease). In an interview with THE FIGHT Garth talks about honoring his ancestral mothers, dismantling and transforming historic systems of oppression and the upcoming LA Pride in the Park.
First off some background questions: Where did you grow up, when and why did you move to Los Angeles?
I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My life took many different shapes. I worked in accounting for many years after college, and also kept a full calendar working on the local theater scene. After a number of increasingly successful years in theater, television, and publicity, I thought to strike it out to Los Angeles in 2013 to give the big city a chance. I’ve also been a journalist and editor and was formerly editor in chief of Chill magazine, the print, digital, and social brand for the millennial man of color.
I truly believe each stop along the way has gotten me to where I am today.
What motivated you to go into community service?
I come from a legacy of women with a heart of service. My mother is a minister and community activist against gun violence and environmental injustice. My grandmother served faithfully in her church and provided food, clothes, and all types of support to her community, and my great-grandmother was a renowned activist for equal access to education for Black children in a time where that wasn’t common. I truly honor my ancestral mothers in my community service.
“The inception of the gay rights movement as we know it was started at the hands of Black and brown transwomen. In these charged times, we have a responsibility like never before to get active and get informed.”
When did you get involved with the AMAAD Institute?
I joined the team at the AMAAD Institute (Arming Minorities Against Addiction & Disease) in 2017 as the organization’s first program manager to eventually assuming the roles of Director of Programs and Operations and Chief Operations Officer. I knew Dr. Carl Highshaw, the organization’s founder, for many years and the great work he did within the Los Angeles community. When he approached me with the opportunity to join and help grow what was then a very new organization, I was truly excited.
AMAAD was founded as a recovery agency in South Los Angeles. I had previously served as Manager of Prevention and Care with the Black AIDS Institute (BAI) and saw firsthand the disproportionate impact of substance use and recovery among Black and Black LGBTQ+ individuals, more specifically at the intersection of other health disparities, and AMAAD was a great fit for me to bring my skills, strengths, and interests to where community needed it most.
I also appreciate that AMAAD values lived experience as a part of its core and this shows up through its unapologetic and authentic commitment to programs, services, care, and organizational culture.
… I’m excited to now be in the role of Executive Director of AMAAD. The organization will also be celebrating its ten-year anniversary in 2024, so we anticipate an amazing year ahead!
You served as the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s first Director of Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. What did that position entail?
I joined the Center in 2022 as the organization’s first Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) as a part of the senior executive team. The role was dedicated to looking specifically at creating systems, strategies, and structures that could assess and respond to the Center’s DEI needs. I certainly went in recognizing the significance, and I’d even say magnitude, of the role on multiple levels.
Working with The Center’s nearly 800 employees across 10 locations and board of directors gave me the opportunity to also connect with dynamic individuals through a lens of shared responsibility and shared accountability. I got the chance to look at the Center’s programs, policies, procedures, and practices through lenses of racial, gender, class, and other indicators to really help shape and inform next steps for the Center. Dismantling and transforming historic systems of oppression take commitment and resources, and most importantly, time—especially within those with a longstanding history.
The Center has done great work yet recognizes its opportunities. My year at the Center reinforces that the new leadership is committed to impact change and the process and investment that comes with it.
In what capacity were you involved with Christopher Street West (CSW) before becoming President of the organization?
I joined the board of directors of Christopher Street West (CSW) in 2017. But I first connected with the organization in 2016, leading an initiative called “Black, Brown, and Beyond: Building Our Future,” an effort designed to highlight Black and Latin gay and bisexual men; we, a group of community members, kicked off the campaign during the Pride parade of 2016.
Our contingent included a float and mobile testing units, but also a South LA-based drill, an Aztec dance group, and marchers carrying flags from African and Latin countries from around the world. We also had marchers holding posters with impactful statistics as well as information on how to access support. The collective of community partners was the largest gay men of color presence in the history of the CSW parade. While this was exciting and fulfilling, it forced me to see how major an issue the lack of meaningful representation was, specifically related to race, gender, and class, which compelled me to want to do more. The organization had a longstanding history of exclusion and limited representations at Pride, so, connecting with the then organizers of LA Pride, I first co-organized a community advisory board—a group of diverse, local voices, to advise and share insight on how the organization could begin to make more meaningful change. And I represented that advisory group regularly at board meetings. When I had to opportunity to apply, I did. Even with reservation, I knew I could inform change more effectively at the table—literally.
“[CSW] is now much more reflective of the many experiences and identities of LA, and we are committed to expanding that inclusion in a meaningful, genuine way.”
I was soon elected as treasurer, and as an officer was able to challenge many of the organization’s historic systems and decisions—and not without confrontation. There were levels of accountability and ownership that some did not or could not commit, but advocacy in action starts in the spaces we currently occupy—better yet, it starts with us.
I served as treasurer for three years, seeing and leading a great deal of institutional change, including eventually being elected as the organization’s first Vice President of Community Programs and Initiative in 2021. This role was specifically dedicated to building and repairing relationships, establishing new partnerships and programs, and launching new opportunities aligned with the evolving and expanding commitment to community. As Vice President, I led the launch of new community programs, such as Pride Makes a Difference, LA Pride’s volunteer, donation, and community action program, Pride 365, the organization’s year-round commitment to partnering, developing, and supporting diverse programs, and the Salon Series, our conversation and social series designed to amplify many of the diverse intersections of LGBTQ+ communities.
The organization now is much more reflective of the many experiences and identities of LA, and we are committed to expanding that inclusion in a meaningful, genuine way.
As CSW’s new President—what changes, if any, should we be looking forward to in the coming months?
As President, I am excited to continue the great programs of LA Pride, but to also grow to expand and develop new programs, demographically, geographically, and experientially. Historically, we’ve seen a very limited representation of what Pride looks like and who has access to pride. LA Pride should look like and represent LA!
There’s been a great deal of repair on behalf of the organization, but part of the commitment is to continue to rebuild and to create new relationships and opportunities. Institutions and organizations can look forward, but they much acknowledge the past to move forward authentically.
We are excited for the official LA Pride 2023! LA Pride in the Park (PITP ) will take place on June 9 and 10 at LA State Historic Park. Last year’s PITP was such a huge success that we decided to expand it to two days. We’ll be announcing additional artists soon so be sure you’re following all LA Pride’s socials!
The Parade, which will take place on June 11, will once again be in the Hollywood neighborhood of Hollywood Blvd, Highland Ave, and Sunset Blvd. Last year, over 146,000 people packed the streets on Parade Day to watch 135 of our favorite parade groups, and then enjoy LA Pride Village in partnership with The Hollywood Partnership.
We are committed to providing programs, events, and experiences that truly represent the richness of LA.
Is there anything we haven’t asked you that you would like to share with our readers?
CSW is a nonprofit organization with 50+- year history with the mission to create safe and inclusive spaces of self-expression, celebration, and diversity/equity/inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community of Greater Los Angeles.
Pride, as a movement, began as a protest, so while we do appreciate all the opportunities to celebrate, being informed and knowing our history is key. The inception of gay rights movement as we know it was started at the hands of Black and brown transwomen. In these charged times, we have a responsibility like never before to get active and get informed. I encourage the community to ask these questions and hold our institutions accountable—elected officials, party promoters, event producers, corporate brands, community organizations—all of them. We all have a role in the health, wellness, celebration, and sustainability of the movement. Find yours. I live by the phrase, “None of us have to do everything, if all of us do something.”
