Pride Center of Vermont (PCVT) is the New England’s most comprehensive community center dedicated to advancing community and the health and safety of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Vermonters.
PCVT was started in 1999 by a group of Vermont undergraduate students. Originally named RU12? Community Center, the group worked from their kitchen table, where they answered phone calls and planned events for the LGBTQ+ community. The Pride Center was a completely volunteer run organization until 2002, when the first Executive Director was hired. Today, we have seven core programs, a broad range of social groups, remarkably successful events, a proud history of fighting for some of the strongest and earliest LGBTQ rights in the country, and a Center space that draws LGBTQ Vermonters from across the state.
The Pride Center’s programs and services strived to meet the distinct socio-economic, health, and safety needs of our LGBTQ+ community. Our drop-in resource center, community meeting spaces, 3,000-volume lending library, David Bohnett Cyber Center, and social events helped to build community and create increased access to information and resources. We created the Vermont Queer Archives, which preserved VT’s unique LGBTQ+ history, at our South End location, before moving to a bright and colorful space in Burlington. We expanded our social and cultural events to reach farther across the state and more deeply into our community, and developed on new programs such as Pride and showing LGBTQA artists at Art Hop.
As of October 10, 2025, the Pride Center of Vermont paused operations due to critical funding shortfalls. The new Board is worked around the clock to conduct a full financial assessment, evaluate what went wrong, and create a roadmap forward. There was an incredible outpouring of support that provided hope that the Center can be relaunched in the future with stronger accountability, governance and sustainability from the ground up.
In late Winter and early Spring 2026, the Pride Center of Vermont (PCVT) commissioned a statewide community mapping exercise to understand the current realities, needs, and aspirations of 2STLGBQIA+ Vermonters and the organizations that serve them during a period of organizational rebuilding and trust repair. Using surveys, affinity groups, regional forums, interviews, and an in-person Community Assembly, this process engaged more than 148 individuals and surfaced a rich, candid picture of queer and trans life in Vermont today. Read more about the findings here: https://canva.link/community-mapping