U.S. Panel Grants 1998-1999

U.S. Panel Grants are grants issued to U.S.-based lesbian, trans and LGBTI social change organizations and projects, including cultural and film/video projects. U.S. Panel Grants are determined by a diverse and committed activist Community Funding Panel.

CFP GRANTS TO U.S. ORGANIZATIONS
Affinity Community Services
Chicago, IL
Affinity provides and promotes programming and community organizing on the south side of Chicago for l/b/t women and queer youth of African descent. Since acquiring a new space in 1998, Affinity has served as a resource for other community groups in the area. Grant is for general support.

Allegra Vida
Gilboa, NY
Formed in 1954, Allegra Vida works to create an environment for lesbian artists through Damas Gracias Writers' and Artists' Retreat in upstate New York. Grant is for writing workshops and a scholarship program.

Bromfield Street Educational Foundation
Boston, MA
Originally formed as the parent organization of Gay Community News, which began in 1973, Bromfield has become a progressive media foundation providing community-based forums for critical and strategic thinking about the future directions of queer organizing. Bromfield produces OutWrite, the national l/g/b/t writers' conference and serves the needs of l/g/b/t prisoners through The Prisoner Project. Grant is for general support.

Deaf Women United, San Diego Chapter
San Diego, CA
DWU promotes the interests of deaf women nationally and internationally, providing leadership and empowerment to deaf women through support and skills building. Grant is for a workshop on confronting homophobia within the deaf community at the 1999 national conference.

Dyke Action Machine (DAM!)
New York, NY
DAM! began in 1990, as a postering project for Queer Nation's political actions. Since 1991, DAM!'s public art campaigns have become a humorous, necessary antidote to mainstream advertising by presenting lesbian representation in the visual culture. Grant is for the 1999 NYC Pride Month Brooklyn public art distribution.

Dyke TV
New York, NY
DTV's mission is to place media at the service of lesbian visibility and empowerment. Originally conceived as a weekly public access TV magazine in 1993, the show now airs in 50 cities nationwide. DTV has also expanded to offer video workshops, artist/activist-in-residencies, and digital media workshops. Grant is for general support.

Elsie Publishing Institute/Lesbian Connection
East Lansing, MI
Elsie Publishing has been producing and distributing Lesbian Connection since 1980. LC, a worldwide forum of news and ideas for, by and about lesbians, facilitates local, regional and international grassroots organizing and communication. Grant is for general support and for making LC available to women with vision/reading impairments.

Esperanza Peace and Justice Center
San Antonio, TX
The Esperanza, a multi-racial, multi-issue, lesbian of color-led organization, was defunded by the San Antonio City Council in 1997. Christian right-wing groups, which decried Esperanza's work as pro-abortion and pro-homosexual, successfully pressured the Council to eliminate the $76,000 awarded from the City's peer review panel and cultural advisory council. Grant is for Puentes de Poder/Bridges of Power, a program to develop new leaders, especially within communities of color in the region.

The Foundry Theater
New York, NY
Founded in 1994, The Foundry aspires to assemble a community of artists with revolutionary ideas for the theatre. Grant is for youth outreach for Gertrude & Alice: A Likeness to Loving done in collaboration with Sang-Froid Ltd.

Gay and Lesbian Center of the Ozarks
Springfield, MO
GLO, founded in 1996 by regional gay and lesbian groups in Springfield, originated from coalition efforts in the early 1990's to support a bias crimes ordinance that would include sexual orientation. Grant is for increasing lesbian membership and participation at the Center.

Highways
Santa Monica, CA
Highways develops and presents innovative performance and visual art, promoting interaction among people of diverse cultural identities; and facilitates critical dialogue among artists concerned with social issues and the communities they serve. Grant is for performances, workshops, and panel discussions to facilitate local lesbian community-building.

International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
San Francisco, CA
Now in its 10th year, IGLHRC responds to human rights violations of l/g/b/t, other sexual minorities, and people living with HIV/AIDS internationally through monitoring, documentation, advocacy, and public policy development, coalition-building and grassroots organizing. Grant is for the September 1999 Human Rights Training in South Africa.

Jon Sims Center for the Performing Arts
San Francisco, CA
JSC is a performing arts facility that supports artistic expressions of the l/g/b/t experience. Grant is for production of the world premiere of Wuornos, a full-scale original opera, co-produced with Brava! For Women in the Arts, based on the story of Aileen Wuornos, a lesbian currently on death row.

Lesbian Community Cancer Project
Chicago, IL
Since its inception in 1990, LCCP has provided feminist, lesbian-sensitive medical and support service, educational programming, and advocacy efforts aimed at increasing the visibility of lesbians in the healthcare area. Dedicated to grassroots methods of organizing, LCCP serves a very diverse constituency in Chicago. Grant is for the Advocacy Program.

Lesbian Community Project/Community Education Project
Portland, OR
Founded in 1986 and "re-envisioned" in 1997, LCP organizes community forums, political education, community-building events, leadership development/skills building, and supports multi-issue neighborhood and queer youth organizing. Grant is for general support.

Lesbians in the Visual Arts
San Francisco, CA
Since 1990, LVA has utilized grassroots organizing and networking to coordinate and host art exhibitions, a slide registry, salons and workshops, and advocacy to increase the visibility of lesbian visual artists. Grant is for general support to augment the fundraising capacity of the organization.

North Carolina Lambda Youth Network
Durham, NC
For three years, NCLYN has operated as a youth-led statewide leadership development network for l/g/b/t/allied people ages 13 to 24. They host statewide organizing trainings, leadership conferences, youth summits at Pride and local trainings with the understanding that the rights of l/g/b/t's cannot be truly won without a larger commitment to social justice. Grant is for general support.

Old Lesbians Organizing For Change
Houston, TX
Born out of 1987 and 1989 West Coast conferences by and for "old" lesbians, OLOC held its first national gathering in 1996. OLOC published a facilitators handbook, Confronting Ageism, Consciousness Raising for Lesbians 60 and Over, produces a quarterly newsletter, and conducts anti-ageism workshops and trainings throughout the country. Grant is for scholarships and travel expenses for the 1999 Old Lesbians National Gathering in San Francisco.

Pat Graney Company
Seattle, WA
Now in their fifth year of workshops at Washington State Women's Corrections Center, the lesbian-led company's Keeping the Faith - The Prison Project is focused on creating a national model for artistic educational programming for inmates.

Project 10 East
Cambridge, MA
Started in 1988 as the first student support group of l/g/b/t youth and their allies in a New England public school, Project 10 East provides support and information to organizations serving l/g/b/t youth and to convene community-based collaborations to eradicate tolerance for homophobia and gender bias in Boston area schools and communities. Grant is for general support.

Proyecto Contra SIDA Por Vida
San Francisco, CA
PCPV works with Latino/a l/g/b/t's who are least likely to be reached by mainstream HIV prevention agencies to provide culturally specific, linguistically appropriate, innovative HIV education and support services. Grant is for Tetatud IV, a sex-positive retreat for Latina lesbians and bisexual women.

Senior Action in a Gay Environment
New York, NY
SAGE is the oldest and largest agency dedicated since 1977 to meeting the needs of older lesbians and gay men in a safe environment that affirms age, gender, racial, religious, ethnic and social equality. Grant is for the Older Lesbian Project in collaboration with GRIOT Circle, a group by and for older LBTST people of color.

SONG: Southerners on New Ground
Louisville, KY
Founded in 1994 by black and white Southern lesbians, SONG integrates work against racism, sexism and economic injustice into l/g/b/t organizing and work against homophobia into freedom struggles in the South. SONG has facilitated retreats, presented numerous workshops and sponsored events that bring people together across lines of difference. Grant is for general support.

Taller Lesbico Creativo
San Juan, PR
Using popular theater techniques since 1994, TLC works to increase the visibility of the lesbian/bisexual community, contributes to the development and empowerment of Latina l/b/t's and provides a space to raise consciousness of the various manifestations of oppression. Grant is for general support.

Triangle Interests/Triangle Interests Federal Credit Union
Philadelphia, PA
TI was created in 1991 by a group of 19 women in the Philadelphia region to improve the quality of life and economic status of the lesbian community. They are building the capacity of the first and only credit union to serve the economic needs of lesbians. Grant is for general support towards software upgrades.

Underground Railway Theater
Arlington, MA
URT, dedicated to cultural democracy, creates and tours productions that combine puppets, actors and music to explore issues of community concern. URT produces the annual Boston Women on Top Theater Festival of new works. Grant is for production of a play based on the life of Concetta Panzarino, a Boston lesbian artist and activist with spinal muscular atrophy.

W.O.M.A.N., Inc.
San Francisco, CA
W.O.M.A.N., Inc. works to eradicate domestic violence and assist battered women and their children. Through the Lesbian Domestic Violence Program, they seek to address homophobia within the agency, as well as to educate the domestic violence community and the public about issues of woman-to-woman domestic abuse. Grant is for expanding and enhancing services for battered l/b/t women.

Wages Due Lesbians
San Francisco, CA
Founded in 1975, WDL is a multi-racial grassroots network which campaigns for lesbian's economic, legal and human rights. Based in San Francisco, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, WDL undertakes key local campaigns to advance lesbian rights, while also advocating for grassroots lesbians' concerns at United Nations conferences and meetings. Grant is for the Video Cafe, programs combining films and grassroots lesbian social change organizing.

Youth Pride
Providence, RI
YPI is a six-year old organization providing social, educational, support and advocacy services for Rhode Island area youth affected by issues of gender identity and sexual orientation. YPI provides leadership development, peer education, street outreach, a diversity theater troupe, support groups, crisis intervention, tutoring and drop-in center. Grant is for general support.

CFP GRANTS TO U.S. FILM/VIDEO PROJECTS I'm Starving
San Francisco, CA
A narrative short film by Yau Ching which weaves a magical love story between an Asian American female ghost and an African American woman who share a small apartment in Chinatown. Grant is for post-production and distribution costs.

Laura Whitehorn Story
San Francisco, CA
A one-hour documentary by Sonja de Vries and Rhonda Collins which revisits the history of radical politics in the U.S. through the life of Laura Whitehorn, a middle-class Jewish lesbian political prisoner. Grant is for pre-production and production costs.

Live! Nude! Girls! UNITE!
San Francisco, CA
A one-hour film documentary by Julia Query, UNITE! focuses on a group of strippers who organized the country's only union of sex workers, exploring the complicated emotions and intellectual issues surrounding sex work. The Exotic Dancer's Alliance will use UNITE! as part of an outreach project to support strippers across the nation interested in organizing their clubs for better working conditions. Grant is for post-production and distribution costs.

Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100
Chicago, IL
Living With Pride, a one-hour documentary by Yvonne Welbon, traces African American lesbian senior Ruth C. Ellis' efforts to bring technological and social change into both her senior and lesbian communities. It also gives a brief glimpse into the richness of African American lesbian history. Grant is for post-production costs.

NO!
Philadelphia, PA
A 90-minute documentary by Aishah Shahidah Simmons exposing the collective silence in the Black community when Black woman and girls are raped or sexually assaulted by Black men and boys. Using a non-linear approach, NO! will delve into how rape and/or sexual assault against Black women and girls is a race, gender, class and sexual orientation issue. Grant is for production costs.

Nuestra Salud: Latina Lesbians
New York, NY
A 20-minute Spanish-language health education video by Suzanne Newman and Teresa Cuadra, Nuestra Salud brings to light issues affecting the health of Latina lesbians and examines some of the barriers to quality, sensitive care. Grant is for production costs.

Positive Art
San Francisco, CA
A 30-minute video documentary by Lexi Leban about the personal transformations of women with HIV and AIDS who participate in an art workshop taught by Nancer LeMoins, a professional artist and lesbian living with AIDS. The video will be a tool for people with HIV/AIDS to advocate for more creative projects and to foster connections between HIV programs and art venues. Grant is for production.

Sambal Belacan in San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
A 25-minute documentary film by Madeleine Lim exploring how cultural identity, lesbian sexuality and immigration status raise multi-layered questions that first-generation lesbians from Singapore experience around "belonging." Grant is for distribution costs.

"Sisterhood"
Astoria, NY
A one-hour documentary by Desireena Almoradie and Christina Quisumbing, "Sisterhood" examines the burgeoning lesbian rights movement in the Philippines. Through interviews with lesbian activists and women struggling for economic justice, the documentary explores the connections that Filipina lesbians have forged across class, geographical and generational boundaries. Grant is for production and post-production costs.

Supernova
Jersey City, NJ
A 30-minute non-linear experimental video by Kagendo, Supernova examines state sovereignty/colonial militarism, (e.g. the August 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, homophobic public statements made by African presidents, and US-based immigrant and refugee experiences. The treatment will be tied together by an overarching narrative poem of the filmmaker's experience as an African immigrant lesbian in the U.S. Grant is for production costs.

Untitled: Intersex Documentary
New York, NY
Untitled, a one-hour documentary by Sam Counter, Kelli Auerbach, and Kiira Triea, challenges current binary constructs of male/female and gay/straight in telling the stories of four intersexed people. This video project will be used as a tool to educate the public and to lobby the medical establishment to re-think imposed surgical and hormonal interventions which many experience as physically and psychically mutilating. Grant is for production.

We Are Here
Hoboken, NJ
A 90-minute video documentary by Adriana Pacheco interweaves the director's personal story within the context of the l/g/b/t movement in Columbia, South America. Activists in Columbia celebrated the first gay pride parade in 1998 and published the first national lesbian magazine. Grant is for production costs.