Just nine years after the infamous Stonewall Riots, the Lambda Community Fund was originally incorporated in 1978 as a special assistance program. The Lambda Community Fund, known today as the Sacramento LGBT Community Center, is Sacramento's oldest non-profit, tax-deductible charity specifically serving the needs of the LGBTQAI community.

On July 13, 1984, Jerry Falwell appeared on television and denied that he had ever referred to Metropolitan Community Church as vile, satanic and its members "brute beasts" on his Old Time Gospel Hour. He offered $5,000 to anyone who could prove that he had. Rev Jerry Sloan of MCC in Sacramento, California, called Falwell's toll-free number and purchased a copy of the tape as proof, and demanded payment of the $5,000. When Falwell refused, Sloan sued and won. With $5,000 in hand the Lambda Community Fund was reorganized and in 1986 as the Lambda Community Center was opened by Rev. Jerry Sloan and the late Timothy Warford with the help and guarantees of Terry Sidie, Marghe Covino and the Late C.G.N.I.E. Emperor, Randy Hartman, to mention a few, to serve the broader cross-section of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) community. Programs of the Lambda Community Center served to assist the LGBTI person in leading self-sufficient, healthy, well-adjusted lives and to provide advocacy for issues of importance or special interest to our community.

In 2006 the Center’s board of directors changed the name to the Sacramento Gay and Lesbian Center with a mission dedicated to serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community of the greater Sacramento area and surrounding counties and its allies by providing space, diverse programming, advocacy, and cultural activities in an affirming, compassionate, and safe environment.

In 2013 the Center began doing business as the Sacramento LGBT Community Center with the expressed purpose of being more inclusive and welcoming to our entire community not only in name, but also through its diverse array of programming. The Center refocused its attention on youth outreach, specifically targeting the over 25 percent of homeless youth who identify as LGBT and health outreach in the areas of HIV and suicide prevention. We continue to offer peer support groups for a variety of marginalized populations, community resource referrals to meet individual basic needs, education and training to improve the competency of businesses and organizations to LGBT issues, numerous artistic expression and cultural activities that build community, and volunteer opportunities that empower individuals to give back.