The Centro LGBTI+ is a community and cultural centre in the Baixa, a few minutes' walk up from Praça do Comércio. It has been open since 1997 and is run by ILGA Portugal, the country's oldest LGBTI+ rights association. It describes itself as a community and cultural space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people, for their families and for society at large, and as the only one of its kind in Portugal, where the one thing not welcome is discrimination.
You can walk in and use it. There is wifi and there are computers, a piano, board games, a lending library, tea and a microwave if you have brought food, and somewhere to charge a phone. Condoms, lubricant, dental dams and period products are there to take. A solidarity shop sells merchandise that pays for the association's work. All of it is free.
The programme runs to a book club, film screenings, karaoke and music nights, board games, theatre, poetry, workshops, and the support and sharing groups the association organises. Psychological, social and legal support and a victim support service are run from the association's offices in the same building, one floor up at number 38, by appointment.
The centre is a member of the Safe Space Alliance. The building is not step-free: there is a small step at the entrance and the toilet is not accessible.
The people in this picture are AI-generated.
