Help Us Establish The CLUTCH Community Center!

After creating community in our backyards across the South since 2014, Southern Fried Queer Pride is relaunching our campaign to finally establish a Black queer-owned community space - the CLUTCH Community Center -  in Atlanta, GA, in honor of our beloved, late MonteQarlo, a founding SFQP chef/organizer. In 2020, we raised $135,000 with your help! This was a great step towards creating the center, and we are keeping that energy as we announce the next round of fundraising.

We are aiming to reach our next goal of $150,000 to make the CLUTCH Community Center a reality!

We are looking at spaces of around  30,000 square feet, with room  for workshops, artist studios, performance venues, community meetings, a community garden, and so much more. Large venues like churches are the style of building we are seeking . We want this space to be accessible and large enough to accommodate the expansive communities we serve.


Southern Fried Queer Pride believes in the power of community and mutual aid. We know we keep each other safe, but we need a space our community can call its own. The South has the largest LGBTQ+ population in the United States – with Atlanta being a Black Queer (BlaQueer) and LGBTQ+ capital – yet we lack many of the resources that LGBTQ+ capitals outside of the South provide to the queers who live there. Our communities deserve better, and this space is a significant step toward progress.

Since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, we have witnessed a complete change to the landscape of spaces for queer and trans folks in Atlanta. Many of the centers, venues, and places our community flocked to for celebration and affirmation have vanished or closed. This only increases the urgency we feel about opening a  community space to serve the LGBTQ+ community in Atlanta and across the South.

Since SFQP’s previous campaign, we have partnered with our fellow Atlanta-based, trans-led organization the Trans Housing Coalition (THC) to work toward dedicating part of the space as a drop-in center. This would create a safer space for queer and trans people experiencing homelessness to have a hot meal and shower, and receive information about resources for housing and other services available to the wider community. Currently, there are no drop-in centers or shelters for queer and trans people of all ages in Atlanta. Trans people who seek refuge in shelters are often told to present as the gender they were assigned at birth,  making finding shelter even more difficult and dangerous.

SFQP needs your help and partnership in establishing a Black queer and trans-owned community center in Atlanta. Our community is vibrant, resilient, and robust, but lacks brick-and-mortar spaces to commune, heal, and build. Community centers can play a direct role in providing safety and support for Black and brown queer and trans folks, young people, disabled folks, and others marginalized by systemic injustice and a lack of infrastructure. We want to build a space where people have the freedom to grow and thrive as individuals, artists, and organizers.

Establishing a community space has always been a core aspect of Southern Fried Queer Pride’s mission. With your help, we can make this goal a reality and give the LGBTQ+ community in Atlanta and the South the  space it deserves and needs.

Please donate and share this campaign with your families, friends, colleagues, and others!