On Thursday, April 1, the Brooklyn Community Pride Center hosted its first Founders Ball, a benefit at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO to give Brooklyn’s LGBT community a place to call home.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz delivered remarks and presented a proclamation, and was joined by Brooklyn Community Pride Center Acting Executive Director Marianne Nicolosi; Board President Thomas Smith; Congresswoman Yvette Clarke; State Senator Daniel L. Squadron; State Senator Velmanette Montgomery; Erik Bottcher, representing the office of City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn; City Council Member Steve Levin; and representatives from the offices of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, City Council Member Brad Lander and Kings County District Attorney Charles “Joe” Hynes. The evening was emceed by Carlos Menchaca of the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office.

“Brooklyn has one of the biggest and most diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in the United States, including New York City’s largest lesbian population, and it’s only fitting that we have our own Center that addresses the needs of our growing LGBT population and builds on the great work already being done by our Brooklyn LGBT service organizations,” said BP Markowitz. “I am a proud—emphasis on proud—supporter of the Brooklyn Community Pride Center, which will not only provide vital outreach and community services for our LGBT community, but will go a long way in ensuring that Brooklyn truly is proud home to everyone from everywhere.”

The new Brooklyn Community Pride Center is a hub of services and information for Brooklyn’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and their families. The Center will offer physical and mental health services, social support and recreational and cultural programming. By promoting the empowerment, development and general welfare of the community with emphasis on gender, racial and ethnic parity, the Center is committed to affecting positive change within the borough and the LGBT community at large.

In addition to $1 million in capital funding from Borough President Markowitz, the City Council (with the support of Speaker Quinn, former Council Member de Blasio and Council Member Lewis Fidler) has allocated more than a million dollars to the Center.