May 19, 2025 10:30p
(WGTD)---The sudden closure of the Racine-based LGBTQ Center of Southeastern Wisconsin is raising suspicions.
The center's leadership announced late Friday that financial difficulties forced the 16-year-old non-profit to lay off staff, end programs and dissolve as an organization. The center had two full-time and three part-time employees and operated out of a building it owned outright, according to a former board member, Kyle Johnson.
Johnson said he was forced to leave the board last November when his wife became an employee of the center.
At the time, there were no signs of financial trouble and certainly no talk of closing. That, along with how the closure was handled, leaves Johnson to speculate that financial improprieties may be involved. "Absolutely," Johnson said. "It's unfortunate to say but that's where my mind is going to with such a lack of transparency and with no communication outside of hey we're closing--we're dissolving--it's hard to imagine what else could be going on," he said.
Overhead was relatively low in part because the center was its own landlord, he noted. In addition, board bylaws required the center to put 30% of its annual operating budget in an emergency fund. Between $45,000 and $50,000 were in that fund when Johnson left.
Messages left with the center's four board members and its executive director Monday night were not returned.
The center is funded primarily by private donations.
WGTD will continue to investigate. If you can add to the story, please contact David Cole at coled@gtc.edu or call 262-564-3030.
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