GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society (formerly Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society) is one of the first LGBTQIA+ rights non-governmental organizations founded by Armenian Americans. GALAS was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in West Hollywood, California. Its mission is to serve and support the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals of Armenian descent, to promote their human rights protection, and to advocate for the change of public policy around LGBTQ+ issues. GALAS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
History 1990s In 1998, GALAS was founded in Los Angeles County, California.
In January 1999, GALAS held its first election to fill the seven seats on the newly created Board of Directors, and the original organizational bylaws were ratified.
2000s In 2001, members of GALAS joined members of Q-Hye in San Francisco to form the first Armenian contingency ever to march in the San Francisco Pride parade. In total, 25 members of both organizations carried banners and Armenian flags down Market Street.
In 2002, GALAS participated for the first time in Los Angeles Pride, where the organization hosted an information booth featuring Armenian music, pictures, and maps of Armenia. Volunteers handed out informative brochures about GALAS, Armenian history, and gay Armenian life.
In 2007, following the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul, GALAS hosted a panel discussion featuring reexamining the social and political environment in Turkey. Participants included Armenian National Committee of America Community Relations Director Haig Hovsepian. During the question and answer session, the audience discussed their concerns regarding Armenian Genocide recognition.
In 2008, Herbert Hoover High School in Glendale, California planned a Day of Silence commemoration to recognize how LGBT+ youth have been "silenced" by harassment and bullying in schools. In response to an ensuing local campaign to keep children out of school on that day, Haig Boyadjian, then the President of GALAS, wrote a letter to the editor of the Glendale News-Press, stating "We want to state unequivocally that the handful of Armenian parents who were vitriolic in their opposition to the Day of Silence do not represent the entire Armenian community. Homosexuality not only exists, it exists within the Armenian community. The members of gay and lesbian society are the children and grandchildren of the Armenian community. We are lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender and there is nothing wrong with us."
California Proposition 8
In 2009, GALAS hosted a conference at West Hollywood's Plummer Park, entitled "The Road to Equality: The Past, Present and Future of the Gay Rights Movement," which concentrated on the aftermath of California Proposition 8 — which banned same-sex marriage in California — and ongoing cases in the California Supreme Court. The guest panel included attorneys from Lambda Legal, representatives from the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and managers of Vote for Equality Campaign, who discussed the various aspects of Proposition 8, including social, cultural and legal. The success of Proposition 8 was contrasted with the failure of the 1976 Briggs Initiative, which sought to ban gays and lesbians from working in California's public schools. Also discussed was GALAS' future, and its role in protecting LGBT+ civil rights.
2010s In 2010, GALAS again held a conference at Plummer Park, this time entitled "Breaking Through: Legally, Politically, Culturally." Speakers from Lambda Legal and Equality California discussed the current status of efforts to overturn Proposition 8, SB 906 (Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act).
The Armenian National Committee of America's Raffi Hamparian stated:
In 2010, GALAS raised over $5,000 for AIDS Walk, benefitting APLA Health, an AIDS service organization dedicated to improving lives of people affected by HIV, reducing HIV infection and advocating for fair and effective HIV-related public policy.
2012 DIY firebombing During the early morning hours on 8 May 2012, Yerevan LGBT+ bar DIY was fire-bombed. On 15 May, a second attack occurred. GALAS responded shortly thereafter, stating
Presidency of Donald Trump In 2017, Los Angeles Pride replaced its traditional parade festivities with a protest against then-President Donald Trump's anti-LGBTQ+ policies. GALAS participated, declaring "We must rise together and be heard loud and clear - we will resist, we will win." This multi-ethnic and multi-religious coalition included organizations such as API Equality, Bienestar, Equality California, It Gets Better Project, JQ International, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, PFLAG, Satrang, Somos Familia Valle, and The Trevor Project.
GALAS denounced Fresno Unified School District President Brooke Ashjian's 2017 comments regarding the LGBTQ+ education requirements of the Healthy Young Act, which equated the LGBTQ+ community to the Ottoman perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide. Also in 2017, GALAS authored an op-ed applauding Arpa International Film Festival’s screening of the films "Listen to Me: Untold Stories Beyond Hatred" and "Apricot Groves" after the two films, which contain LGBT+ themes, were slashed from the 2017 program for the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival.
20th anniversary celebrations During the 20th century celebrations, GALAS board member Lousine Shamamian was quoted as saying, "GALAS formed 20 years ago because people weren't willing to abandon their Armenian identity in order to explore the rest of who they were, and in particular the way they wanted to love. GALAS continues to exist in order to facilitate and support this safe space which we see growing to one day include the homes of all Armenians."
In 2018, GALAS celebrated its twentieth anniversary at a gala hosted by comedians Lory Tatoulian, Mary Basmadjian, and Movses Shakarian. For GALAS, 2018 marked a renewed pledge to building bridges between GALAS and other LGBTQ+ and Armenian community organizations, and the organization considered the creation of affiliate chapters to raise awareness in both Armenia and across the Armenian diaspora. Among those honored at the event were comedian James Adomian and Mamikon Hovsepyan, executive director of Pink Armenia, an organization with which GALAS has closely partnered. Performances included Element Band, known for their distinctive musical arrangements that preserve and popularize traditional Armenian songs.
2018 Shurnukh attack Following the August 2018 attack on nine LGBT+ activists at a private home in the Armenian village of Shurnukh, Haig Boyadjian, then the president of GALAS, stated: "The Armenian government must once and for all take immediate steps to address the recent epidemic of violence targeting its LGBTQ citizens. We are deeply alarmed with the mysterious closing of criminal case regarding the violent attacks against 9 LGBTQ individuals last summer in the village of Shurnukh. The lack of action essentially condones and justifies future hate crimes against Armenia’s LGBTQ community. We are patiently waiting for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to defend LGBTQ rights in the ‘New Armenia’ being forged and hope these senseless violent attacks will cease or at least be met with consequences under the law." GALAS joined over 100 Armenian organizations and prominent individuals in issuing a public letter to the Armenian government as well as Armenian political parties, international organizations and churches calling on them to condemn the attack and to promote legislative and policy changes to grant equality and end discrimination against LGBT persons in Armenia.
Inter-community dialogue In November 2018, GALAS and the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department co-sponsored "Beyond Borders: Queer Pop-up Cafe," a moderated roundtable discussion intended to uncover common ground among various LGBTQ+ communities.
In response to several hate incidents targeting Armenian and Jewish institutions in the San Fernando Valley in early 2019, GALAS attended a meeting, hosted by California Assemblymembers Adrin Nazarian and Jesse Gabriel, of religious and lay leaders from the Armenian and Jewish communities for an inter-community dialogue. The discussion focused on efforts to combat hate and discrimination of all forms.
2020s Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
In the aftermath of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, GALAS was invited to speak at the November 2020 launch of Kamee Abrahamian, Nancy Baker Cahill, Mashinka Firunts Hakopian, and Nelli Sargsyan's "Monument to the Autonomous Republic of Artsakh," an augmented reality monument geolocated at the intersection of Artsakh Avenue and East Broadway in Glendale, California.
Solidarity with other organizations and causes In March 2022, YWCA Glendale and Pasadena, glendaleOUT and Glendale Unified School District social sciences teacher Patrick Davarhanian hosted a digital panel entitled "Improving Allyship For Armenian LGBTQIA+ Communities". Panelists included Yerevan State University professor Vahan Bournazian; Pink Armenia director Mamikon Hovsepyan; Right Side NGO founder Lilit Martirosyan; Charachchi member Perch Melikyan; and Erik Adamian of GALAS, ONE Archives Foundation and Charachchi. Panelists relayed observations on human rights violations of LGBTQIA+ community members in Armenia, as depicted in the 2016 documentary "Listen to Me: Untold Stories Beyond Hatred". Panelists also highlighted responses from youth and advocates and presented a call to action to improve allyship for LGBTQIA+ youth and adults in both Armenia and the United States.
In a June 2022 Pride Month article in the Armenian Weekly, GALAS President Erik Adamian stated that "The humans of GALAS affirm and accept each other, amidst hatred and division. We recognize that our journeys are also bigger than one person. When one of us is able to show up in the world authentic in our multiple identities, that makes it possible for others like us to do the same. The organization continues to provide invaluable tools for queer Armenians to invest in their own paths toward dignity and self-actualization."
Following the October 2022 suicide of Arsen and Tigran, a young gay couple in Yerevan, GALAS hosted a virtual support group, stating that "Despite our brave strides towards progress for LGBTQ+ Armenians, we are consistently subjected to blatant homophobia and transphobia from the larger Armenian community, resulting in unfathomable losses like those of Arsen and Tigran."
In January 2023, GALAS co-sponsored the Glendale Peace Walk, a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event. The event gathered a coalition of local organizations dedicated to equality, including Black in Glendale, glendaleOUT, the Glendale Environmental Coalition, the Glendale Teachers Association, and the Glendale Tenants Union.
In March 2023, GALAS hosted Right Side NGO founder Lilit Martirosyan at Glendale Central Library for a public discussion on the situation of LGBTQ+ people in Armenia, discrimination and human rights violations, and how supporters living in the United States can support LGBTQ+ people living in Armenia. California State Senator Anthony Portantino presented Martirosyan with a Certificate of Recognition. Other notable attendees included Burbank City Councilmember Nikki Perez, Glendale City Councilmember Dan Brotman, West Hollywood City Councilmember John Heilman, Glendale Board of Education member Shant Sahakian, Los Angeles Board of Education member Rocio Rivas, and Silver Lake Neighborhood Councilmember Maebe A. Girl.
In April 2023, GALAS participated in Glendale Library, Arts & Culture's Armenian History Month celebration, part of the library's Be the Change Series, a program "to build collective understanding of systemic racism, elevate the voices and stories of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)".
Response to anti-LGBTQ+ campaign in Los Angeles County school districts