Gulnar Feerasta

My name is Gulnar Feerasta, I use she and they pronouns, and I am the managing director at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland.

We do a lot of work supporting and serving the LGBTQ+ community of Greater Cleveland and, by extension, Northeast Ohio. Our mission is to advocate, support, and celebrate the community. 

A lot of my work revolves around supporting individuals in our community. We offer direct support programs, which follow a peer education model, serving different segments of our community, such as our elders, our trans and gender-expansive population, and our youth. We partner with the community to develop and implement these programs, always prioritizing their needs and what they want to see. Most of our programs are facilitated by individuals from these groups, empowering them not only to advocate for themselves but also to build capacity within our own community. 

What we've learned is that we have to do this for ourselves because no one else is going to do it for us. 

We also have a robust training program. We offer training to organizations around inclusivity, helping them build respectful, inclusive workplace cultures. It’s not just about LGBTQ+ identity but about being inclusive of all people in the workplace. 

Additionally, we partner with local community organizations and healthcare providers to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare. For example, we work with the MetroHealth Pride Clinic, which is open five days a week, offering primary care services. We also collaborate with organizations like the Centers for Families and Children and Central Outreach Health and Wellness Center, which provide walk-in, free HIV and STI testing, along with connections to treatment and care.

We also have a really excellent volunteer program and have recently started an advocacy program, hosting events in the community and at the center. This program helps people become informed about civic engagement, what it looks like, and how they can get their voices heard and have a seat at the table.

I came to the United States 25 years ago this year. I moved here from Australia. I was born in Pakistan, and my family migrated to New Zealand, then to Australia, and eventually to the U.S. 

We moved mainly due to economic reasons. The situation back home in Pakistan was not good, with a lot of political instability and a lack of opportunities for the middle class. Eventually, we ended up in the U.S. because my parents had family here, and they wanted to be closer to family as they got older. In Australia and New Zealand, we didn’t have family, so my parents wanted us to grow up connected to family and community. 

I was about 15 when we moved to the United States, and I initially stayed in Florida with my mom's family until we could get settled. My dad eventually got a job in Ohio, and that’s how I ended up here.

One thing I love telling people about is our food scene. People don’t always think of Cleveland as having a great food scene, but we have such talented local chefs and phenomenal food. 

I also love that we have an LGBT center. We have the third oldest LGBT center in the country, and it’s celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. I think that’s something people don’t always associate with Cleveland—having such an old and well-established LGBT center. It really speaks to Cleveland’s supportive, welcoming, and diverse community.

When I think of Cleveland, I think of community. There are so many small pockets of communities, but we all flow into this larger community. Cleveland has grit. It’s something inherent in Clevelanders—we have to have grit to survive, and I think that’s a big part of the city’s identity.

We also have a thriving arts and culture scene. Cleveland has the second-largest theater district outside of Broadway. We have museums, parks, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—there’s so much to offer. The arts are really important to this community, and people here support and invest in it.