LOS ANGELES — For the past several months, volunteers and community members arriving at the Mi SELA youth center in the city of Bell have encountered a putrid smell.
The source? Bags of discarded dog feces.
The center is a partnership between the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the Latino Equity Alliance and provides youth clubs, community-building workshops, and cultural and legal resources to the LGBTQ+ community of South Los Angeles. But recently, the center has seen a pattern of dog feces being thrown in front of and onto the awning of the building’s entrance.
“There were over 10 bags. That was the second time that we’ve had to do a full sweep of the awning … I just worry about, what if it does escalate in the future?” Sanva Lojero, Mi SELA’s programs manager, told NBC Los Angeles. “This is a youth resource center, so we have clients coming in each day and I don’t want them to feel like they’re getting harassed.”
It’s unclear who is throwing the feces — or why. But given the center serves LGBTQ+ youth, some maintain it’s deliberate, potentially hate-motivated vandalism.
The Latino Equity Alliance denounced the recent incidents as “abhorrent” and “unacceptable” in a statement posted on Instagram.
“In 2025, it is shocking that young people and community organizations continue to face such targeted hate and intimidation. While law enforcement has emphasized that action cannot be taken without catching the perpetrators in the act, that does not diminish the urgent need for … a public stance against hate in our communities,” the statement read.
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn has pledged a $2,500 grant to install more security cameras around the community center in hopes of capturing the perpetrators.
“The fact that this person is going out of their way to do this says everything about them and nothing about our LGBTQ community in Southeast L.A.,” Hahn said in a statement.
With security cameras now likely on their way, Mi SELA’s staff say they won’t be deterred from their mission.
“We’re not going anywhere, we’re going to still keep providing resources,” Lojero said.
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