CasArcobaleno is an LGBTQIA+ centre in a flat on Corso Italia, run together by the Arcigay QueerTown Taranto committee and the Hermes Academy volunteer association. They call it a Rainbow Hub. It is the address both organisations work from and the address most queer life in the city is organised from.
The flat is laid out as rooms rather than offices. There is a living room used for co-working, a kitchen for shared meals, a veranda, a room for rapid HIV tests and for free legal and psychological consultations, and a hall for meetings, training, film evenings and game nights. Peer support circles meet here, and so does the group that puts the city's Pride together.
It is also a shelter. The two associations keep beds for LGBTQIA+ people who have lost their housing or been thrown out of it, and the people staying get board, psychological support, legal help and help finding work. The centre describes itself as the first and only refuge and co-housing of its kind in Puglia.
The project reopened in 2024 after a few years closed. It runs on volunteers and donations, with no public money behind it, so the associations ask for contributions in kind as much as in cash. If you want to reach the committee, the number above is answered as a helpline.
The people in this picture are AI-generated.
