Laura Glesby File Photo
Juancarlos Soto leading a tour of the Pride Center's new home in 2024.
Juancarlos Soto is stepping down from his role as executive director of the New Haven Pride Center, after two and a half years at the community center’s helm.
Soto said he plans to focus on family, art, and rest while making room for new voices at the Pride Center. His resignation is effective April 4.
“The center’s now in a place where it can benefit from a different perspective in terms of leadership,” Soto said on Thursday morning. “I think it’s an opportunity; change is always tough but it’s also a magical place for opportunity. So I’m excited to see what cool new things new leadership brings in.”
The leadership transition will take place at a time of heightened anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric and legislation, as anti-trans policies continue to take shape and be battled across the country. President Donald Trump kicked off his second term with executive orders denying the existence of trans identities and targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Requests for mental health support among the LGBTQIA+ community have risen.
Amid the current political climate, the Pride Center has gathered its community and collaborated with city government to promote a message of affirmation and resistance, while welcoming those who have moved to New Haven from states that have curtailed LGBTQIA+ rights.
With the center’s heightened political stake, Soto said he’s slept about five hours a night for the past few months.
“This fight currently that we are facing is a marathon, it’s not a sprint,” Soto said. “So I think it’s important for folks to also carve out time to take care of themselves, to find joy, to love up on each other.”
That’s exactly what he plans to do as he recharges in the coming months.
In a statement, the Pride Center’s Board of Directors wrote, “We are saddened to see Juancarlos leave, but are grateful for his unrelenting work ethic and transformative culture-building he brought to The Center. It has been extraordinary to see how he poured his whole creative and radical being into his leadership of the staff and service to the community. The Center would not be where it is today without Juancarlos stepping up during our last leadership transition.”
The board wrote that a “thoughtful and community-centered search process” would ensue for the organization’s next leader, with more details to come “in the coming weeks.”
Soto began working at the Pride Center six years ago, starting out as the director of case management and transitioning to deputy director. In 2022, the board appointed him as acting executive director when the nonprofit temporarily lost its nonprofit status. Soto worked with his team to rebuild the center’s financial stability and community trust in the aftermath, eventually taking on the official role of executive director.
Since then, Soto has led the Pride Center to a new home at 50 Orange St. The center, which is nearly three decades old, had been operating out of a basement down the block. With its new home base, the organization was able to make its presence — and pride — visible on the street level, host multiple events at the same time, and meet ADA accessibility standards for the first time.
“While we were super grateful for the [basement] space, it’s tough to work hidden away. There’s something to being really visible,” Soto reflected. “It sends a signal out to the world that in New Haven, we believe the LGBTQ community should be celebrated and visible and have a beautiful new center.”
Soto also shepherded new partnerships with community organizations. The Pride Center hosts the immigrant advocacy group Connecticut Students For A Dream in its new space, and has collaborated with local healthcare providers, legal organizations, food pantries, and local businesses such as hair salons, among others.
Soto said he plans to continue living in New Haven. “I’ll definitely be involved in the community, because I love New Haven so much.”
He encouraged community members to continue supporting the Center, not only financially but by volunteering and showing up to events. “There’s a lot of community that’s just feeling isolated and inside and oppressed,” he said. “My hope is that when people go to [Pride Center gatherings] and make new friends there … it’s so healing for our community and it’s so important right now.”