Grants

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.

NORTHEAST/MID-ATLANTIC

Asian/Pacific Islander Lesbian, Bisexual Women and Transgender Network & National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (Washington, DC) are two Asian and Pacific Island American women's social action groups that have joined forces to use their expertise and commitment to gender and sexual liberation to revitalize a national APA LGBTQI movement. The ultimate goal of their collaboration is to build a national activist base to address the multiple inequities faced by API lesbian/bisexual women and transgender people. Grant is for an API LBTQ Activist Convening to take place in late 2006. $10,000

Audre Lorde Project (Brooklyn, NY) is the nation's only Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two Spirit and Trans (LGBTST) People of Color center for community organizing. Through mobilization, education and capacity-building, ALP works for community wellness, and progressive social and economic justice. Grant is for their Immigrant Rights Project. $10,000

Chica Luna Productions, Inc. (New York, NY) is led by women of color and uses media, creative arts education/ production and feminism to raise consciousness around social issues relevant to them. In just five years, it has produced award-winning film, radio and theater pieces, a visual art exhibit, and is currently creating a bilingual media justice toolkit for community organizing. Grant supports JOTORIA, a project showcasing the experiences of queer Latinas. $6,000

GRIOT Circle (Brooklyn, NY) is an intergenerational and culturally diverse community organization addressing the needs of LGBT elders, particularly elders of color. Their innovative programming includes social services, Yoruba wood carving, health advocacy and mobilization of elders of color to respond to pressing issues in their communities. $5,000

Incite! Women of Color Against Violence (Brooklyn, NY) is a national organization that uses a feminist and anti-racist lens to organize against interpersonal and state violence. Grant is for national campaign work and support of the New Orleans INCITE! chapter's establishment of a women's health center. $5,000

Out Now (Springfield, MA) has transformed in the last decade from a community support space to a vibrant activist group taking on many important issues relevant to its constituency. Grant supports the Quest (Queer Empowerment through Solidarity and Truth Project), which fights prison expansion and injustice in the criminal justice system throughout the state of Massachusetts. $4,000

Outright Vermont (Burlington, VT) is a youth organization that provides direct services to LGBTQ youth and raises awareness on issues facing LGBTQ youth in Vermont, including: racial profiling, transphobia, bullying in schools and pro-tobacco advertising targeting youth. Grant supports ongoing public education and outreach work. $5,000

Queers for Economic Justice (New York, NY) fights for economic justice on behalf of poor and low-income LGBT people through advocacy, public education and grassroots organizing. QEJ's programs raise awareness about the needs of shelter residents, welfare reform, structural poverty and inequality. The first-hand experiences of LGBT leaders in the welfare system are highlighted in QEJ's "Welfare Made a Difference" campaign. Grant supports the Welfare Organizing Project. $10,000

Sylvia Rivera Law Project (New York, NY) uses a feminist and anti-racist lens to conduct public education, impact litigation and organizing. SRLP works locally and nationally to assert the rights of transgender, intersex and gender non-conforming people--especially in prison or shelter settings. $10,000

MIDWEST

Affinity Community Services (Chicago, IL) founded in the mid-1990s is a lesbian-led social justice organization working with and for lesbian and bisexual women of African descent. Affinity works within and outside the mainstream LGBT movement in Chicago to educate and advocate against racism, sexism and homophobia. $8,000

Beyondmedia Education (Chicago, IL) uses media education and creation as a primary tool for social change. Grant supports the Can LBGTQ+School=Safe? Video project, featuring LGBTQ youth chronicling sexuality-based discrimination and anti-gay violence in Illinois schools. $6,000

Center for Artistic Revolution (North Little Rock, AR) uses organizing and art to create social justice alliances with non-LGBTQ people, and to raise awareness within the LGBTQ movement on issues of racial, economic and environmental justice. $10,000

LGBT Resource Center of the 7 Rivers Region (La Crosse, WI) is led primarily by women and works to secure justice for LGBT people and other oppressed communities. Committed to addressing issues of prejudice and discrimination at the state, community and organizational levels, the Center works in coalition with anti-racist and immigrant groups. $7,000

Old Lesbians Organizing For Change (Athens, OH) is a national advocacy organization working on behalf of old lesbians to fight ageism within the larger LGBT community. Additionally, they fight sexism and homophobia in society at large--prejudices which are often compounded by racism, poverty and disability, especially as it concerns aging. Over the last decade, OLOC has organized through its national conferences and six local chapters. Grant is for a field organizer to start new chapters around the country. $4,000

NORTHWEST/MOUNTAIN STATES

Colorado Anti-Violence Program (Athens, OH) works to eliminate violence within and against LGBT communities in Colorado. CAVP provides direct services and advocacy related to issues of partner abuse and anti-LGBT hate crimes. Throughout the Denver region, they also organize against expansion of the prison industrial complex, and build alliances to fight discrimination against transgender people in homeless shelters. $7,000

Fresh Meat Productions (San Francisco, CA) produces feminist trans-focused performance art to help build a transgender rights movement. Additionally, they educate and challenge mainstream society about transphobia, racism, sexism and homophobia. Grant is for Fresh Meat 2007, a multi-city production "exploring the American myth of equality from a transgender perspective." $5,000

Juana, an Opera in Development (San Francisco, CA) recounts the powerful story of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, a15th century nun in New Spain (today's Mexico), persecuted during the Spanish Inquisition for her feminist, homoerotic and radical writings. The producers seek to counter Catholic and right-wing campaigns within Latina/o and other communities. $5,000

The Northwest Network of Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian and Gay Survivors of Abuse (Seattle, WA) offers an array of education, organizing and advocacy programs for BTLG survivors of abuse. In addition to community programs, their work includes efforts to resist homeless monitoring systems, anti-immigrant measures and war. $5,000

Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (San Francisco, CA) helps create and promote social justice video and filmmaking amongst queer women of color communities through free video training workshops, screenings, and their Queer Women of Color Film Festival. This grant was made possible by Astraea's NEWMR Fund for the Promotion of Women's Music and Culture. $10,000

Third World Majority (Oakland, CA) a women of color media justice organization, uses media as a political organizing tool. Grant supports the Queer Youth Gathering, supporting queer youth organizers in telling their own stories and creating their own media in their justice work. $6,000

Three Big Dykes Productions (Seattle, WA) produced Mom's Apple Pie: the Heart of the Lesbian Mothers Custody Movement, a documentary highlighting the role of lesbian mothers and activists in the family rights movement of the 1970s. Grant is for production and development of a resource guide to accompany the documentary. $4,000

Utah Progressive Network (Salt Lake City, UT) is a multi-issue social justice organization, whose work ranges from political education and organizing around immigrant rights, to fighting for reproductive rights and supporting youth activism. Grant is for UPNET's Progressive Student and Youth Council Project, organizing queer youth and straight allies to fight opposition to LGBT rights and organizing, especially in high schools. $6,000

Zuna Institute (Sacramento, CA) is a national advocacy organization for Black lesbians addressing areas of health, public policy, economic development and education. Grant is for the Black LGBT Mobilization Project, a California statewide campaign mobilizing Black activists to fight for LGBT rights. $5,000

SOUTH

ALLGO (Austin, TX) is the nation's only statewide queer people of color organization. Drawing on a 20-year history of innovative organizing and cultural work within Austin's Latina/o LGBT communities, ALLGO (formerly the Austin Latina/o LGBT Organization) recently broadened the scope of its constituency and geographic focus. Grant supports ALLGO's women's arts, education and organizing programming. $8,000

Appalachian Women's Alliance (Floyd, VA) racial and economic oppression in Appalachian communities across six states. They have deemed homophobia a priority issue, and carry out visibility work through media, performance art, community education and support services. $7,000

PUERTO RICO

Taller Lesbico Creativo (San Juan, Puerto Rico) has, since 1994, served as the primary voice by and for lesbians and bisexual women inPuerto Rico. Through workshops and coalition-building, they raise consciousness of feminist lesbian issues, and ensure that lesbian experiences remain visible for policymakers and the larger LGBT movement.
This grant was made possible by The Lynn Campbell Memorial Fund, established at Astraea to honor Lynn's leadership and activism in the women's, labor and LGBTI political movements. Each year, a grant that reflects Lynn's activism and commitment to social justice is designated by Astraea's U.S. Fund Panel. $7,000