June is PRIDE month and we're exploring the intersection of design, community, and the LGBTQ+ experience within the built environment. Throughout the month we will be featuring organizations and events that support LGBTQ+ professionals across the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry. We'll also spotlight LGBTQ+ architects and designers who have shaped the built environment, explore films and books that connect design and identity, and discuss how inclusive design can foster belonging and strengthen communities. We encourage our colleagues and industry partners to learn more about these organizations, attend local events, and celebrate the diverse voices that continue to enrich our profession. 

Design leaders, architects, and creatives

This Pride Month, we celebrate architects, designers, and thinkers whose work has expanded our understanding of how identity, community, and the built environment intersect. From LGBTQ+ pioneers to influential design leaders whose work shaped more inclusive ways of living and working, their contributions are critical to understanding and expanding how we approach the built environment and its roots. 

Eileen Gray (1878-1976) was an Irish architect and furniture designer whose work followed a unique path involving fine arts to furniture design to designing homes with no architectural training. Gray’s work only gained recognition later in her life at the age of 94 and her furniture pieces—the Bibendum Chair, E-1027 Adjustable Table, and Brick Screen—are key examples of modern design combining industrial materials with craftsmanship. 

One of her great accomplishments was her creation of the seaside villa E-1027, made in collaboration with Romanian architect Jean Badovici. Gray designed this modern home in the 1920s with no formal architectural training and it sparked renewed interest from the public in the 1970s. The villa pioneered concepts that would become hallmarks of modern residential design, including flexible floor plans, built-in furniture, ergonomic detailing, and a thoughtful relationship between architecture and its occupants. Although her contributions were overlooked for much of her career, E-1027 is now recognized as one of the defining works of modern architecture.

As an openly bisexual woman working in a male-dominated profession, Gray challenged social and professional conventions throughout her life and her work has made her an enduring figure in both design and LGBTQ+ history.

Bibendum Chair, E-1027 Adjustable Table, and Brick Screen

E-1027 

Amaza Lee Meredith (1894-1985) was an educator, artist, and one of the first known Black queer women to practice architecture in the United States. Despite facing racial and gender barriers that prevented her from entering the profession through traditional channels, she built a remarkable career centered on modern design, education, and community. After studying at Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute and Teachers College at Columbia University, Meredith founded the art department at Virginia State University, where she encouraged students to view art and design as tools for creativity, opportunity, and social progress.

In 1939, Meredith designed Azurest South, her International Style home in Ettrick, Virginia, as a home for her and her life partner, Edna Meade Colson. The home was both a showcase for her modernist design philosophy and a deeply personal expression of home and privacy. Characterized by clean geometric forms, glass block, flat roofs, and carefully integrated interiors, Azurest South demonstrated that modern architecture could be innovative, welcoming, and deeply connected to everyday life.

Meredith went on to co-found Azurest North in Sag Harbor, New York, a vacation community created for Black middle-class families during segregation. Conceived as a place of rest, recreation, and belonging, Azurest North offered opportunities for Black families to own vacation homes at a time when discrimination limited access to many resorts. Meredith also designed homes for friends, family, and colleagues, and Azurest North remains a lasting testament to Meredith's belief that architecture can foster community, dignity, and joy.

Azurest - Sag Harbor, NY

William Dorr Legg (1904-1994) was an American landscape architect whose career bridged design, education, and one of the earliest organized movements for LGBTQ+ equality in the United States. After studying architecture at the University of Michigan and teaching landscape design at Oregon State College, Legg established a professional practice in Los Angeles, where he explored the relationship between people, landscapes, and community.

Alongside his work in design, Legg became a pioneering figure in the early gay rights movement. In 1950, he co-founded the Knights of the Clock, an organization supporting interracial gay couples, was one of the first members of the Mattachine Society, and soon after became a founding member of ONE, Inc., one of the nation's first LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations. Through ONE Magazine, the first U.S. publication devoted to positive coverage of homosexuality, Legg championed education, representation, and visibility. His successful legal challenge against the U.S. Post Office helped establish First Amendment protections for LGBTQ+ publications, marking a landmark moment in American civil rights history.

Legg also helped establish the ONE Institute for Homophile Studies, which offered some of the first college-level courses focused on LGBTQ+ history and culture. The Institute's library ultimately became the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at USC, now one of the world's largest collections documenting LGBTQ+ history. Legg's legacy demonstrates how design professionals can shape not only physical environments but also the cultural spaces that foster community, visibility, and belonging.

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at USC

Aaron Betsky (born in 1958) is an American architect, critic, curator, educator, lecturer, and author of over a dozen books. Trained as an architect and in the humanities at Yale University, Betsky has been the President and Dean of the School of Architecture at Taliesin (originally the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture), director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (2001-2006), the Cincinnati Art Museum (2006-2014), and was founding Curator of Architecture, Design and Digital Projects at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1995-2001).

Betsky has written expensively about contemporary architecture, design, urbanism, and the cultural meaning of space. In Queer Space: Architecture and Same-Sex Desire (1997), he argues that gay women and men have always been at the forefront of architectural innovation, whether this be redefining urban spaces, reclaiming abandoned neighborhoods, or creating liberating and comforting interiors out of hostile environments. He delves into how “queer spaces” emerge from necessity and transform ordinary spaces into ones of celebration, experimentation, privacy, or liberation from social hostility or restrictive structures. Ultimately, Betsky’s work expands the conversation about architecture by examining how identity, sexuality, and culture shape the spaces we inhabit.

Organizations and Events 

We're highlighting organizations and events that support LGBTQ+ professionals across the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry. Following are just a few organizations that provide the AEC industry with opportunities for mentorship, networking, leadership development, and advocacy—helping create a more connected and welcoming profession. 

Build Out Alliance strives to build a platform of acceptance, connection, and empowerment across the design, construction, and real estate industries. The organization believes in the power of community by creating networking opportunities and cultivating strong relationships beyond our industry. They envision a supportive network where quireer professionals can share experiences, learn from each other and build meaningful connections. Build Out Alliance uplifts queer professionals in the industry through mentorship and career-building programs, and equip individuals to grow in their career and navigate any challenges they may encounter. They champion the rights and interests of queer professionals, working to shape an industry that values inclusion and equality.

BuildIT is the world’s largest LGBTQ Industry Association dedicated to the sustainable growth of LGBTQ/Allied owned and certified businesses, professionals, tradespeople, thought leaders and stakeholders, in the fields of Architecture, Engineering, Construction Services, Program/Construction Management, Material Suppliers, Large Scale-Real Estate Development, and Related Industries. BuildIT welcomes participation from all individuals based on merit, achievement, and commitment to excellence. We recognize the value that different perspectives bring to our mission of excellence in the Built Environment and we are committed to maintaining an ecosystem where all members associated with the Built Community have access to opportunity. Membership and opportunities within our organization are available to anyone who meets our established professional criteria and standards.

Out Professionals brings together motivated, community-conscious LGBTQ professionals and supportive allies across all industries, throughout their careers. The organization is dedicated to advancing the careers of LGBTQ professionals by creating meaningful networking events and other career-building and life-enriching programming. They focus on creating in-person networking events with the support of virtual and online networking opportunities that help create the connections and build the professionals relationships that advance careers and improve professionals' lives.

June Events:

Build Out Alliance San Francisco Networking  - June 18, 2026 - 5:30 p.m.

AAa/e LA - Pride Month Happy Hour – June 25, 2026 - 6:00 p.m.

Build Out Alliance Los Angeles Networking Event July 29, 2026 - 5:30 p.m.