If you're a loser and didn't understand my Room of Requirments reference, let me be brief.  The Room of Requirments is a room used frequently by Harry Potter and his friends for WHATEVER they need.  They just think of their needs and the room readjusts itself to suit them.  While the William Way center has no real magic coursing through its walls, it does have a wizard of sorts… R. Eric Thomas!  He recently started as the Program Director at the William Way and he has quite the vision! I swung by the center to take a tour (which you should TOTALLY do!) and talk with Eric!

1. New job yay! What's your title and what do you do?

Yay! I'm the Program Director. The Center has a wide–and ever-growing–slate of programming tailored to meet the needs and wants of the LGBTQ community in Philly and the surrounding areas; I manage it. We have a boisterous slate of senior programs, from social outings to job placement workshops, wonderful trans programming, including a new trans mentorship program, great activities for youth and young adults, a 10,000 volume lending library, two curated art galleries, a nightly Peer Counseling program and more. We're supported by over 400 volunteers and a dedicated staff. My job is, in part, to keep the plates spinning on existing programs while also planning special events and new programs like our series of TED-style social justice talks, a big gay story slam, outdoor adventures and a few new book clubs.

2. In 1 tweet or less, what's your goal for WW? Bonus points for hash tags

@waygay is the epitome of welcome and progress. My goal is to expand the concept of welcome, update it, innovate it and spread it around. Every LGBTQ person and every ally can find a space at this table, and programs that will support, enrich and engage them. #welcomehome #blessed #urbestlife #Beyonce

3. In a dream world, what event would you want to see at the center

Well, you and I were just talking yesterday about a live, movable version of Clue at the Center. That would be a blast. I think site-specific theatre is definitely doable and definitely on the horizon. The WWCC building—1315 Spruce—is actually two buildings that have been knitted together. It’s really like Hogwarts, sometimes, with staircases that pop out of nowhere and semi-secret passageways. I love it; even the architecture is queered.

4. Any chance of a virtual tour?

Absolutely. I mean, we don’t have one online at the moment but literally anyone can Tweet me at any time and I’ll Periscope them around.

5. What's your favorite part of the center

My favorite place in the Center right now is the Library. It’s tucked away in a room off of the main hallway on the first floor and if you’re not looking for it you could pass right by it. But when you go in over 10,000 books and DVDs about the LGBTQ experience and the friendliest, most eager volunteer staff. I like to go there to just decompress and dream every once in a while. When I was growing up, my favorite place to be in the world was the public library. I could have spent my entire life there, really. I’m actually not sure how I didn’t become a librarian. The order and the breadth of knowledge were so attractive to me. Nothing was unknowable. And as a young gay person that was a bit of a lifeline. In a space where I didn’t know any LGBT people and didn’t really know if being LGBT was “okay” it was extraordinary to know that there were a Dewey decimal category for texts on the queer experience. Even though my library had a pretty limited selection, the fact that there was a category alone was enough for me. It meant that we existed, somewhere, somehow, in some greater, grander library. That Dewey decimal code was a point on a map for me for a long time, an idea that one day I would find the piece of myself that I was looking for and with that the community that I needed. And I have. Every time I go into the library at the William Way Center I’m reminded of how far I’ve come. The piece of me that started out as two or three books on gay life that I would furtively skim in the public library has become a collection 10,000 volumes strong. That’s a really powerful metaphor for me.