These past few weeks we have marched; we have gathered, chanted, protested and loved each other, fiercely. We have borne witness to violent and oppressive executive orders intended to roll back our rights, silence, detain, police, criminalize, and demoralize us. But: there is great hope in the collective uprising we are witnessing right now! Folks across the country and around the globe are standing in solidarity and in courage. People are becoming and staying woke to this new political reality. It’s breathtaking!

While we know so much of the vitriol being legally and culturally reinforced is long-rooted in our society, our response and resilience to this new administration’s actions are critical. We must rally all of our resources for a renewed resistance. Raising our banners, our voices, our dollars, our time, our trust and our commitment – and resisting together to build a radical uprising of love. Now is when we must stand in strong community. These are the very principles upon which the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice was built 40 years ago – surely we have the vision, will, and power to triumph over the next four.

Today, on Valentine’s Day, I’m excited to share with you the launch of our new Uprising of Love Fund, which will fuel, sustain, and amplify the resistance of LGBTQI activists fighting threats to our equality where it is most needed and least resourced. This work is urgent and strategic – activists must be resourced to respond immediately and to seize opportunities, and they must also have access to long-term, dependable support, as we know ending persecution will not be happen overnight. Now they need YOUR support more than ever.

Supporting the #UprisingFund is a radical form of resistance and love:

• Everyone can do something: A donation of $10 a month helps us to provide grantee partners with the resources needed to ensure community safety! LGBTQ communities of color provide cop watch programs at marches, rallies, and community gatherings. Help activists stay safe while taking to the streets and fighting for their communities’ well-being. A gift of this size will be matched by the Barbara J. Wright & Dee Kenny Challenge Grant, doubling your donation to promote more uprisings!
• $1,000 enables us to support LGBTQI grassroots organizations advocating for policy changes on the city level. With your support, activists can bring their real-life testimonies about policing, immigration, health care and more to local policymakers in order to defend their rights from being reversed.
• A gift of $2,500 helps us resource queer and trans migrant organizers who are leading direct actions to protect their communities from harmful anti-immigrant attacks.
• $10,000 or more helps us support organizations in several states as they advocate for policies that resist the increased policing of LGBTQI people. Together, we can end the building of so-called ‘rainbow jails’ that cage LGBTQI prisoners and abolish the epidemic incarceration of our communities.
• As Audre Lorde once wrote, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” $20,000 allows Astraea to fund holistic initiatives for at least four organizations that center healing as a tool of resistance. Help us provide healing in the form of community spaces, mental health support, and holistic care for our grantee partners and their members.

Support the Uprising of Love Fund – whatever you are able to give will be critical in allowing for timely responses to strengthen the resilience and organizing of our communities.  Share with us uprisings in your community!

Stay tuned to learn more about the #UprisingFund, and how your support is making an impact. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter as we share with you many of the uprisings that your support makes possible. Last but not least, watch our video on the power of these movements.

I am honored to stand shoulder to shoulder with you in this #UprisingofLove.

In radical love,