With Brian Cheu at the helm, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Community Center has become the hub for social and educational activity for the LGBT community in the Bay Area. The center has been open since March 2002 and Cheu has been executive director since May. This year’s one-year anniversary of the center marks a time of transition for the center as well as Cheu, who will be resigning as executive director.

Throughout his tenure as executive director, Cheu has seen a lot of changes, compromising and goal tackling. Before his stint as executive director of the LGBT center, Cheu spent four years as an executive director of LYRIC (Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center), which provides recreational, educational and leadership opportunities for LGBT youth. He also spent four years at the city’s Human Rights Commission.

Cheu, 39, laughs modestly when asked how it feels to be a role model for the APA community. As one of only two executive directors of color of the 137 LGBT centers around the country, he is the only APA in that position.