GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society
LGBTQIA+ rights non-governmental organization
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.
The public source identifies “GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society” as lGBTQIA+ rights non-governmental organization. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around GALAS, LGBTQ and Armenian.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q115862496. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002.
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This entry incorporates text from “GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.