Stonewall Honors Director of Programs Mai Kiang

Astraea Director of Programs, Mai Kiang, is being honored by the Stonewall Community Foundation for her contributions to the LGBTI community.  A visionary leader and cultural activist, Mai joins 19 other extraordinary women, including Pooja Gehi of Astraea grantee partner Sylvia Rivera Law Project, who will accept their awards on Thursday, December 2, 2010.

For more about the Stonewall Honorees and the December 2nd event, click here.

Mai Kiang

Mai Kiang is a cultural activist, born and raised under martial-law in Taiwan. Prior to serving as Director of Programs, Mai joined Astraea’s staff as the Associate Director of Grantmaking and is a past member of Astraea’s U.S. Community Funding Panel, a two-term board member and a former board chair. Throughout her career, Mai has worked extensively with grassroots queer, feminist of color, and progressive media groups. She most enjoys bringing communities together to provide a space for sharing and dialogue across disciplines, focuses and strategies. Mai arrived in New York in 1991 to join the staff of Women Make Movies, an independent feminist film distributor, and helped bring about feminist film exhibitions and productions locally and internationally. Later she joined Impact Visuals, a leftist photo cooperative where she was elected to multiple terms as the chief steward to the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers’ Union. Mai was also a part of the management team that administered an archive of a million social-issue photographs by over nine hundred photojournalists worldwide. Before joining Astraea’s staff in late 2007, she was the Special Events Manager at New York University. Mai is the co-founder and co-chair of the Institute for Tongzhi Studies, a New York-based group that supports queer artists and scholars in Chinese communities worldwide. She is also the co-convener of the 2007 Lala Institute, the first multi-region Mandarin-speaking LBT leadership camp held in mainland China.

Pooja Gehi

As a staff attorney at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Pooja Gehi is among the leading legal advocates for social justice for transgender people in NYC. She represents low-income, transgender and intersex people of color in the areas of discrimination, immigration, access to government benefits, proper identification and healthcare. Pooja recently co-authored an article, Unraveling Injustice: Race and Class Impact of Medicaid Exclusions of Transition-Related Health Care for Transgender People with her fabulous co-worker, Gabriel Arkles. http://srlp.org/

Astraea Grantee Partner Success in Arkansas: School Board VP Resigns

In an open letter, Astraea grantee partner Center for Artistic Revolution of Arkansas describes the successful campaign to pressure a bigoted school board vice president to resign after posting comments on Facebook that called for more LGBT teens to commit suicide.

From Center for Artistic Revolution (Little Rock, Arkansas)

Dear Friends:

This past week has been a firestorm of controversy, a fire ignited by the horrible statements made on Facebook by Midland School Board Vice-President Clint McCance that called for gay kids to commit suicide.

After a few days of intense organizing working to secure Mr. McCance’s resignation, CAR went to Pleasant Plain, Arkansas. Our purpose was to put more pressure on the school board and Mr. McCance to ensure that he resigned. We conducted a vigil at the Midland High School commemorating the lives of the 11 teenagers who took their lives in September as well as all those who have killed themselves because of being tormented by remarks much the same as those of Mr. McCance.

Thirty-five LGBTQ and ally community members stood together in the cold morning wind, most without jackets holding their memorial signs as well as signs that called for Mr. McCance’s resignation. In our meeting with the school superintendent and the school board president we promised to continue to return to Pleasant Plain until Mr. McCance resigned. And late last night, on the Anderson Cooper show, he did just that; he resigned.

We won! By working together – standing fast, standing brave, and standing publicly, we won! We were determined; already the plans had been made to return to Pleasant Plain and we were committed to returning day after day until he resigned. Thank you so much to all who participated in this campaign. We know that so many of you were calling and writing. And we’d like to especially thank those who were able to make the trip to Pleasant Plain. We must be seen, we must be heard, we must continue to have dialog.

Still, there is so much more to be done. Here in Arkansas LGBTQ students or those who “appear” to be LGBTQ have experienced verbal harassment, been tripped, pushed, slapped, robbed, chased, sexually assaulted and in some cases beaten terribly. There have been suicide attempts. LGBTQ youth who are bullied are at a greater risk for quitting school, substance abuse, risky sexual behavior and homelessness. Every student deserves the right to be protected in school!

We hope that you will join with CAR and other concerned community members and help us not only make our schools safer for ALL students, but to continue the important mission of securing Fairness and Equality for ALL Arkansans.

More about CAR.

Press:

Channel 7 News

The Arkansas Times
McCance has resigned

Protesters seek Midland School Board resignation

Grantee Partner FIERCE Victory: October Named LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month in NYC

Astraea grantee partner FIERCE succeeded in their campaign to name October LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month in New York City when Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed an official proclamation after nearly 100 LGBTQ youth, elected officials, and allies rallied at City Hall on October 21st to address LGBTQ youth suicides and anti-LGBTQ attacks in New York City.

FIERCE released a statement declaring, “LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month is dedicated to honoring LGBTQ youth leadership and supporting the work LGBTQ youth are doing to transform their communities and their lives. In light of the tragic events that have taken place this month and since Coming Out Day is October 11, we want this October and all future Octobers to be a time we lift up and support LGBTQ youth leaders.  Empowerment means being seen, heard and having the power to make the changes we need immediately.”

Elected officials, community members, and allied organizations, including Astraea, endorsed FIERCE’s campaign for LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month.
For more, read the FIERCE press release about the event:

LGBTQ Youth, Elected Officials and Allies Speak Out about Youth Suicides and Anti-Gay Violence
Mayor Bloomberg Releases Official Proclamation Naming October LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month in New York City

(New York, NY) Today, nearly one hundred youth, advocates, allies and elected officials gathered on the steps of City Hall as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth spoke out about the recent suicides and anti-gay attacks impacting their community. Youth member leaders of FIERCE, an LGBTQ youth of color-led organization, were joined by the Mayor’s Office and other elected officials, to release an official proclamation declaring October LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month in New York City, this year and for all coming years.

“We are thrilled to have the Mayor, Speaker Quinn and other elected officials’ support of LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month,” stated John Blasco, Organizer at FIERCE. “It is crucial that we continue working together to create even more spaces for LGBTQ youth to take leadership in their communities and in their fight for justice.”

FIERCE was joined at the rally by NY City Council members Daniel Dromm and Lew Fidler, and Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Youth and Community Development Susan Haskell, who presented an official Proclamation from the Mayor.
“In the many years that I and my colleagues in government and the community have been working with FIERCE, we have made great strides for New York City’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth,” stated NY State Senator Tom Duane, an endorser of FIERCE’s call to make October LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month. “But there is much more to be done, and the recent violent homophobic attacks and suicides of LGBTQ youth only underscore the magnitude of our challenge.”

“I’m so pleased that our youth are taking control of their lives and declaring October as LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month,” stated Daniel Dromm, New York City Council Member (D-Jackson Heights). “We need to send a strong message that gay is good, that gay is great and that we wouldn’t want to be any other way.”

Over the past several weeks, FIERCE has been working with city and state officials and other LGBTQ organizations to build support for LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month. In light of the tragic events that have take place this month and since Coming Out Day is October 11, FIERCE released a call to action to lift up the voices and work of LGBTQ youth in New York City and across the county. To date, over 20 organizations and a number of elected officials have endorsed the call to action.

“We chose empowerment because to us, empowerment means being seen, heard, and having the power to make the changes we need immediately,” stated Veronica Tirado, FIERCE Youth Member. “Today, FIERCE calls on our elected officials for their support. We need policy changes that ensure safe spaces in our schools and jobs. We need funding for LGBTQ youth programs and services. And we need your support in creating more safe spaces for us to be who we are without the threat of violence.”

“LGBTQ Youth from New York City, like other youth across the country are reeling from the recent string of bullying, hate crimes and suicides in the news. I congratulate FIERCE for pulling together all of the participants and endorsers at today’s press conference. I join with them in declaring October LGBTQ empowerment month,” said NYC Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “In recognition of these difficulties facing our city’s youth, my office and other members of the City Council – including Council Members Danny Dromm, Jimmy Van Bramer, Rosie Mendez and Lew Fidler – are calling together all LGBTQ youth groups and advocates for a roundtable meeting,” added Speaker Quinn.

“LGBTQ youth will have the opportunity to share their experiences and express their ideas for promoting greater safety and respect in our city. We will discuss ways for all parties, including government and community groups, to work together collaboratively to ensure that our youth remain proud and productive members of our city,” concluded Speaker Quinn.  FIERCE will continue to build support to meet the dire needs of LGBTQ youth and ensure that LGBTQ youth are leading these change efforts.

“For us, as LGBTQ youth, the time to act is now. We know that these issues are not new. Our community faces challenges like bullying, harassment, homelessness, and lack of safe spaces and services on a daily basis,” stated Michelle Riddle, FIERCE Youth Member. “Today, we show our power as LGBTQ youth and take a stand for what we want and need—not only for our generation but for generations to come.”

##

A complete list of endorsers available online at http://www.fiercenyc.org/index.php?s=158.

FIERCE’s Statement & Call to Action available online at http://www.fiercenyc.org/index.php?s=88&op=10.

Founded in 2000, FIERCE is a membership-based organization building the leadership and power of lesbian,gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color in New York City. We develop politically conscious leaders who are invested in improving ourselves and our communities through youth-led campaigns, leadership development programs, and cultural expression through arts and media. FIERCE

Astraea Condemns Violence and Calls for Comprehensive Change

We at Astraea are deeply saddened by the recent LGBTI youth suicides and condemn the current wave of homophobic motivated violence. Amid the outpouring of public support that is desperately needed, we know these events are symptoms of much larger problems that reverberate far beyond these individual tragedies. From the recent bombing of the Pride parade in Serbia, to a U.S. election cycle that is increasingly marred by anti-gay rhetoric, this culture of hate is inexcusable and reprehensible. But, there is a groundswell of people who are working for something different. Youth teetering on the edge need immediate support and we have young leaders speaking out and taking bold actions. Together, youth and adults can make the systemic changes in society and in our institutions that can make suicide and violence unthinkable.

Every day, Astraea grantee partners around the world are working for safe, affirming and even liberating societies for all people.  Youth-led LGBTI organizations from New York to Nigeria are taking real risks to challenge the status quo and push forward for solutions that address all facets of their lives. We want to share with you two examples that we hope will inspire you to speak out and take action as well.

Astraea Grantee Partners have been speaking out:

FIERCE (New York, NY) is dedicated to building power through leadership development, artistic and cultural activism, political education and campaign development for transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, two spirit, queer and questioning (TLGBTSQQ) youth of color in New York City.  Astraea has endorsed FIERCE’s campaign to officially designate October as LGBTQ Youth Empowerment Month in New York City. Sign the petition here.

Excerpt from the FIERCE statement, which can be viewed here.

“These recent incidents highlight serious issues that countless LGBTQ youth face everyday. We know that for every one story heard on the news, there are dozens more that go unreported to police, unnoticed by school officials, and ignored by the media. At the same time over these past few weeks, we’ve also experienced the resiliency and strength of our community as we’ve organized and turned out to vigils and community actions and mourned our losses together. We’ve created and received messages of hope from LGBTQ community members, allies, public officials and even celebrities. Together, we’ve raised the nation’s awareness to issues that impact us, but we must keep pushing–now is the time to take action and demand changes that address the full scope of issues impacting LGBTQ youth. We need solutions that go beyond messages of hope. We need concrete changes that positively impact the daily lives of LGBTQ youth, particularly youth of color whose voices and needs go unheard far too often. We need our government officials to pass policy changes that ensure safes spaces in our schools and jobs, increase funding for LGBTQ youth services and prioritize creating more safe spaces for LGBTQ youth to congregate and organize together in order to take leadership in our efforts for safety and respect.”

Gender JUST (Chicago, IL) is a multiracial and multigenerational youth-led organization working to support all LGBT youth in Chicago.

Excerpt from the Gender JUST statement, which can be viewed here.

“While youth violence is a very serious issue in our schools, the real bullies we face in our schools take the form of systemic violence perpetrated by the school system itself: a sex education that ignores queer youth and a curriculum that denies our history, a militarized school district with cops in our schools, a process of privatization which displaces us, increasing class sizes which undermine our education and safety.  The national calls to end the violence against queer youth completely ignore the most violent nature of our educational experience.  Our greatest concern is that there is a resounding demand for increased violence as a reaction, in the form of Hate Crime penalties which bolster the Prison-Industrial-Complex and Anti-bullying measures which open the door to zero-tolerance polices and reinforce the school-to-prison pipeline.  At Gender JUST, we call for a transformative and restorative response that seeks solutions to the underlying issues, takes into account the circumstances surrounding violence, and works to change the very culture of our schools and communities.  Gender JUST had a momentous victory towards this end in early 2010: through grassroots youth-led organizing, Gender JUST developed a Grievance Procedure based on the principles of Restorative Justice for Chicago Public Schools.

”

Grantee Partner SONG Wins Victory Against Hate

After being ejected by security from a North Carolina mall for a mild display of affection, Caitlin Breedlove, co-director of Astraea grantee partner Southerners on New Ground, and her girlfriend took the story public.  Caitlin appeared on multiple news outlets, and that weekend, hundreds rallied at the mall to protest homophobia.

“A lot of people have joked that they messed with the wrong gays, and while we appreciate that, we want to live in a country where ALL marginalized people— LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, people of color, immigrants, poor people—are ALL the wrong people to mess with because we understand and harness the power of coming together to demand our dignity,”” said Caitlin Breedlove in her speech at the rally.

The speech reaffirmed the right to free expression and announced a victory: the security force agreed to hold trainings for their staff to address all kinds of discrimination including on the basis of race, gender presentation, sexual orientation, class and ability.

CNN coverage of the protest:

CNN Headline News Joy Beher Show interview

CNN

 

Additional Press:

Bilerico Project

 

Channel 14 News
Security guard suspended over same-sex discrimination

QNotes
Cameron Village mall ‘regrets’ alleged discrimination toward lesbian couple

ABC News
Lesbians told to leave shopping center

CBS News
Lesbian couple say they were forced to leave Cameron Village

Feministing
Queer couple forced to leave Raleigh NC shopping center after kiss

Extended Through Oct. 15th Apply to the Astraea Visual Arts Fund

EXTENDED DUE DATE: The Astraea Visual Arts Fund, which promotes the work of contemporary lesbian visual artists who show artistic merit and share Astraea’s commitment to LGBTI visibility and social justice, is accepting applications now through October 15th. The fund will make three grants of $2,500 to artists working in an array of media including sculpture, painting, prints, mixed media and works on paper.

Two grants are supported by an endowed gift from founding mother and artist Joan Watts. A third grant to an artist west of the Mississippi is made possible by Skip’s Sappho Fund, established at Astraea by a bequest from Skip Neal, a lesbian artist who enjoyed a successful career in museum exhibition. The awards are determined by a distinguished panel of artists and art professionals.

This year, Astraea is introducing an online application for the Astraea Visual Arts Fund.

Read the eligibility guidelines and apply.

Rent Office Space at Astraea on Union Square in New York City

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice seeks to rent four office spaces to fellow non-profits in the New York City Area.

We currently have three available enclosed offices with large windows for $700 each. Also we have one cubicle available for $500 a month. Utilities are included for all spaces. Also included are access to a full kitchen and a conference room, as well as access to postage machine, copiers and fax.

Our offices are conveniently located on East 16th Street between Irving Place and Union Sq. East right off of Union Sq. Park, and by the N, R, Q, W, L, 4, 5, and 6 subway lines.

For more information please contact info@astraeafoundation.org or call 212-529-8021 ext. 810

Astraea Supports Publication of Black Lesbians Matter

Astraea grantee partner, Zuna Institute, published the needs assessment report Black Lesbians Matter this week, revealing that Black lesbian visibility is an essential element in the political and economic landscape and providing a glimpse into the lives of an often-overlooked group.

The report, which surveyed Black lesbians across the U.S. aged 18-70, was authored by Zuna Institute Executive Director Francine Ramsey; Gay Men’s Health Crisis CEO Dr. Marjorie J. Hill; and Cassondra Kellam, a PhD candidate at City University of New York Graduate Center.

Download Executive Summary

Download Full Report

ZUNA INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF REPORT BLACK LESBIANS MATTER

Sacramento, CA (July 27, 2010) – Zuna Institute announces the release of the Black Lesbian needs assessment report, Black Lesbians Matter. Authored by Francine Ramsey, Zuna Institute’s Executive Director; Dr. Marjorie J. Hill, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, Chief Executive Officer; and Cassondra Kellam, PhD Student, Graduate Center, CUNY, this report examines the unique experiences, perspectives, and priorities of the Black Lesbian community.

The “Black Lesbians Matter” report, the result of a quantitative study, is akin to a Black Lesbian “census.” Regional, statewide, and local organizations that support Black LGBTQ asked Black lesbians to speak up and be heard, to stand up and be counted; 1,596 Black lesbians answered that call by participating in focus groups and through an on-line survey.

Francine Ramsey, Executive Director of Zuna Institute says, ”This report is the result of a year long process, and will lay the foundation for constructive dialog and the creation of an effective collection of strategies that will address the needs of the Black Lesbian community.”.

Brenda Crawford, co-founder of Zuna Institute quotes Rebecca Lee, “For what is done or learned by one class of women becomes, by virtue of their common womanhood the property of all women.”

Vallerie D. Wagner says, “This report accentuates the importance of using our voices to define us for ourselves.  It is our opportunity to speak and have our voices heard and acknowledged; our issues and concerns validated and defined in our own words.  We must continue to find and use our voices, for to remain silent is no longer an option.”

This study was funded by a generous grant from the Arcus Foundation, with additional support from the Gill Foundation and the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. The “Black Lesbians Matter” report is available for download at www.zunainstitute.org.

Zuna Institute is a national advocacy organization for Black Lesbians that addresses such issues as health, economic development, education, and public policy. Zuna Institute brings about visibility and empowerment to the Black Lesbian community, and strives to eliminate barriers that are deeply rooted in public policies that encourage homophobia, economic and educational injustices, and other forms of social discrimination.

###

Download Executive Summary

Download Full Report

Summer 2010 eThreads

Announcing the Summer 2010 edition of eThreads! Read on for the latest from Uganda, Colombia and Arkansas.  Meet the Lesbian Writers Fund awardees and read their work. Hear from a donor partner. Explore our new interactive map. Get connected!

Visit eThreads for artwork, video, and more. Read inspiring stories featuring Astraea’s strategic work and our incredible community of grantees and donors. We believe that social change results from the powerful collective action of people working together. Connecting communities is at the core of our work, and we hope that threads will strengthen, even further, our connection with you.

Visit eThreads.org!

Queers to the Left, to the Left

A newly formed national coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, two spirit, transgender and gender nonconforming groups working for economic justice announced a new agenda for the queer rights movement on Saturday at the United States Social Forum (USSF) in Detroit.

This is the second United States Social Forum, which brought together over 15,000 activists, organizers and community members from across the United States and around the world to share strategies for advancing human rights and social justice. The ROOTS Coalition, grantee partners of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation’s U.S. Movement Building Initiative, expands the current agenda beyond marriage equality and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to include the needs of the most vulnerable communities and the structural causes of queer oppression.

Kenyon Farrow, Executive Director of Queers for Economic Justice in New York City, explained, “The most vulnerable people in our communities face discrimination from schools, landlords, lenders and employers. This leaves them underemployed, underhoused and without access to formal education. This creates a pipeline into poverty, continuing the legacy of state-sponsored violence against poor people.”

“Queer people are immigrants, the working-poor; we are hard working single-mothers, domestic workers and bus drivers, journalists and educators. We live in rural communities, the big cities, the reservations and on the gulf coast. Immigrant rights, reproductive justice, environmental racism, indigenous sovereignty, the economic recession and ecological destruction are all issues that affect our communities,” added Paulina Hernandez, Co-Director of Southerners On New Ground, a southern regional organization based in Atlanta, GA.

The coalition released the “Queer and Trans Peoples’ Resolution for Safe Self-Determination, generated through a collective process called the People’s Movement Assembly. Over 500 people over the course of the USSF worked together to produce a set of principles for Safe Self Determination. According to the statement, Safe Self-Determination is defined as a call to action to hold government systems accountable for ALL forms of state sponsored violence enacted upon queer, trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, two-spirit, gender non-conforming people; and to fight for specific and concrete human rights and overall system transformation. Central to the resolution is deconstructing the US and global capitalist economy while building alternative economies, infrastructure and interdependence among groups rooted in the most vulnerable communities. The resolution also recognizes the need to work on 3 key areas of crisis-level struggle for our communities: liberation within work, wellness, and safety.

In the closing ceremonies, the more than 15,000 participants of USSF committed to upholding the resolutions produced by the 52 People’s Movement Assemblies that took place over the course of the week, including the Queer and Trans Peoples’ Movement Assembly.

###

Contacts:
Caitlin Breedlove, Southerners On New Ground: 404-549-8628
Kenyon Farrow, Queers for Economic Justice: 212-564-3608
Joaquin Sanchez, Communications Liaison for the Queer and Trans Peoples’ Movement Assembly: 917-575-3154