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.

[4] 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.

[6] 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.

[7] In 2007, following the assassination of journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul, GALAS hosted a panel discussion featuring reexamining the social and political environment in Turkey.

The success of Proposition 8 was contrasted with the failure of the 1976 Briggs Initiative, which sought to ban gays and lesbians from working in California's public schools.

Speakers from Lambda Legal and Equality California discussed the current status of efforts to overturn Proposition 8, SB 906 (Civil Marriage Religious Freedom Act).

That means we need the involvement of everyone in our community; young and old, rich and poor, those with a college degree and those with none, those who are gay and those who are straight, or those who were born in America or those who came to this country as immigrants.

[16] GALAS denounced Fresno Unified School District President Brooke Ashjian's 2017 comments regarding the LGBTQ+ education requirements of the Healthy Young Act, which equated the LGBTQ+ community to the Ottoman perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide.

GALAS continues to exist in order to facilitate and support this safe space which we see growing to one day include the homes of all Armenians.

Among those honored at the event were comedian James Adomian and Mamikon Hovsepyan, executive director of Pink Armenia, an organization with which GALAS has closely partnered.

We are patiently waiting for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to defend LGBTQ rights in the ‘New Armenia’ being forged and hope these senseless violent attacks will cease or at least be met with consequences under the law.

[21] In November 2018, GALAS and the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department co-sponsored "Beyond Borders: Queer Pop-up Cafe," a moderated roundtable discussion intended to uncover common ground among various LGBTQ+ communities.

[23] In the aftermath of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, GALAS was invited to speak at the November 2020 launch of Kamee Abrahamian, Nancy Baker Cahill, Mashinka Firunts Hakopian, and Nelli Sargsyan's "Monument to the Autonomous Republic of Artsakh," an augmented reality monument geolocated at the intersection of Artsakh Avenue and East Broadway in Glendale, California.

Panelists relayed observations on human rights violations of LGBTQIA+ community members in Armenia, as depicted in the 2016 documentary "Listen to Me: Untold Stories Beyond Hatred".

[35] Ahead of an announced protest at a June 2023 reading of author Mary Hoffman's "The Great Big Book of Families” at Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood and following the burning of an on-campus rainbow flag,[36] GALAS released a statement that "Identities are formed at a very young age.

"[37] The LGBTQ+ counter-protest, which is believed to have outnumbered the protest, was coordinated by local organizations including GALAS, Somos Familia Valle and the San Fernando Valley LGBTQ Center.

"[38] Ahead of a June 2023 Glendale Unified School District Board of Education meeting, GALAS President Erik Adamian commented, "I think that the conflict at GUSD is definitely symptomatic of the larger anti-LGBTQ attacks that have been going on all over the United States.

"[39] As a crowd of more than 200 — including far-right organizations such as the Proud Boys[40] — gathered outside the Glendale Unified School District headquarters, GALAS joined organizations such as the Armenian American Action Network, Southern California Armenian Democrats and the Los Angeles LGBT Center in voicing support for the school district's LGBTQ+ policies.

"[42] In an interview with Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, GALAS President Erik Adamian stated, "These attacks are presented as an exercise of parental rights.

[48] The event was emceed by comedians Mary Basmadjian and Andy Kenareki, and performers included drag queen Anoush Ellah and singer Krista Marina.

"[51] GALAS submitted a public comment in support of a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors motion to provide humanitarian aid to refugees.

[52] In response to the 2023 Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, GALAS, alongside organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, joined the Rising Majority coalition in condemning Israel's "occupation, apartheid, war crimes, and genocide", noting that "our struggles are inextricably linked [with Palestine].

"[53] At the Glendale City Council's 2024 proclamation declaring June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, GALAS Boardmember Shant Jaltorossian commented, stating “Our work as a cultural hub and resource group emphasizes the importance of intersectionality in our fight for justice.

In March 2023, GALAS submitted a supportive letter in response to the Office of Management and Budget's request for public comments on the initial proposals from the Federal Interagency Technical Working Group on Race and Ethnicity Standards for adding a Middle Eastern or North African category to the United States census.

[60] Since 2018, GALAS has hosted its ongoing "Soorj Session" events, which are guided roundtable conversations between LGBTQ+ Armenians, their parents, families and friends to explore understanding and acceptance of LGBTQ+ identities and individuals.

In June 2023, Glendale poet laureate Raffi Joe Wartanian hosted an evening of poetry readings and performances by local members of the LGBTQ+ Armenian community.

[71] Also in 2016, GALAS partnered with the Armenian Youth Federation to host a screening of "Listen to Me: Untold Stories Beyond Hatred," a documentary about Armenia's LGBT+ community.

[73] In May 2023, GALAS hosted author Taleen Voskuni for a discussion of her novel "Sorry, Bro" at 2220 Arts + Archives, in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

[74] In July 2023, GALAS, in partnership with Glendale Library, Arts & Culture and Abril Books, hosted author Nancy Agabian for a discussion of her novel "The Fear of Large and Small Nations".

Prior to that, there was a separation of Armenian queer folks…they didn’t feel a sense of belonging to the bigger community.” A number of the vendors at the event began making their items as fundraisers for relief efforts in Artsakh.