History of Galano
From 1975 -1981 a small founding AA group of gay men and women, met at several churches, but had to meet in secret. In 1976, the AA group moved from Saint Peter and Paul Church in Decatur to a small space at All Saints Church on North Ave. The rector of All Saints allowed those first meetings on the provision that if the congregation ever found out and objected, the group would have to leave. As far as we know, no one objected. To attend those meetings, you had to know someone else who was gay and in AA. To gain access to a meeting on meeting nights, you had to pull a cord hanging from a second story window. The cord would ring a bell and someone would go to the door and if not recognized, were asked what they were there for, how and where they found the information about the meeting existence.
By March 1982, the AA group had grown to the point where they were able to form the nonprofit company The Galano Club, Inc. They were also able to lease their first building (a carriage house) behind the Raoul Mansion at 848 Peachtree Street (Across the street from the old Backstreet Atlanta Club)
The Raoul house was built in 1891 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . In 1991, the vacant structure caught fire and the house was completely destroyed.
In 1985, that building was sold and the club moved to 1475 Mecaslin Street, off Deering road behind the current Atlantic Station complex and rented an office building for the next four years.
In 1989, that building was sold and the club moved to 500 Amsterdam above the then Shoemaker’s Warehouse in the Amsterdam Walk shopping district. At that time, there were 41 AA and 13 Al-anon weekly meetings.
Prior to the lease expiring in December of 1991, the then board of Galano started a yearlong capital campaign to raise the additional funds needed to purchase a permanent home for Galano at 585 Dutch Valley Road NE. This amount was added to the amounts that the club had amassed during the prior eight years, and in March 1992, the Galano Club purchased its new home!
Today, The Galano Club, Inc. supports the Greater Atlanta LGBTQ+ and friends’ recovery community by providing a safe and welcoming meeting place for 12-Step Fellowships. We host 10+ different fellowships with over 55 meetings per week providing meeting space for approximately 3600 people monthly! Current meeting schedules and more information are available at Galano.org
Meetings
Become a Galano Supporting member*
$100/year
with automatic yearly renewal
$10/month
with automatic yearly renewal
*Memberships are reoccurring until cancelled by the member.
Why become a Galano Supporting Member?
Play a vital part in continuing to keep the recovery doors open to more than 55 meetings per week!
Members who are in good standing shall be eligible to vote in the conduct of the club’s affairs, get clubhouse WiFi access, a key card for building access and free admission to all Galano social events.
By joining, you give to others what has been so freely given to you. Without members, our organization could not support this clubhouse, which is one of the very few clubhouses in the U.S. designed primarily to serve the LGBTQ community. Join Today!