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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.

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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

Saturday, May 22, 2010

2:00 – 5:00 PM

Home of Barbara Wright & Dee Kenny

Pound Ridge, NY

For more information or to host your own Justice Social, contact our Events Manager at 212-529-8021 x14 or events@astraeafoundation.org.

The North Star Fund Award honors Katherine along with other social justice leaders Maria Casteneda, Secretary-Treasurer for 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East; Asad Mahmood, Managing Director of the Global Social Investments Fund at Deutsche Bank; and Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor and publisher of The Nation.

Katherine Accepts the 2010 Liberty Award

Forty Under 40

By Advocate Contributors

Bridging the age gap between Gen X and Gen Y, this year’s selection of young activists, artists, and other standouts is proof the qualities that make a leader are often innate—and that the gay movement is still in good hands.

Read more:

Kenyon Farrow

Mia Mingus

Frank Mugisha

Dean Spade

Selly Thaim

For the rest of Katherine’s Letter, click here.

For the Press Release from the board, click here.

Download the Annual Report

In the last year with the support of our donor partners, Astraea granted more than $2.2 million to 210 organizations and 21 individuals in 109 cities across 43 countries around the world. In addition to supporting the leadership of promising new organizations and projects, Astraea has also invested considerable resources to sustain burgeoning movements. Two of these projects, the Consortium of Latin American Women’s Funds LBT Project and Astraea’s Multi-Year Movement-Building Initiative, are profiled in this report.

The past year brought both challenges and new opportunities. The nonprofit sector experienced a difficult economic year and some tough policy setbacks, and religious fundamentalists had a hand in hate-based legislation in Uganda and other countries. At the same time, we saw real progress in the fight for LGBTI human rights. From Ecuador to Serbia, constitutional protections for LGBTI people were enacted. Across the U.S., powerful films connecting personal stories to social justice issues influenced growing audiences, and trans and gender-non-conforming people secured policy victories against discrimination. Globally, LGBTI organizations advanced shared goals for gender and racial justice by making links with women’s and other social justice movements.

As we address multiple challenges with multiple strategies, let us remember to celebrate each other and the many victories along the way. This annual report is dedicated to you—–Astraea grantee and donor partners who give your time and resources so generously. Together we are sustaining this vital work for social change.

Download the Annual Report

Justice is Sweet: Astraea’’s Funding the Fight for Queer People of Color

From Feminist Teacher

“Through the years, Astraea has become a major global women’’s fund that supports not only lesbian social change activism but also that of gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) groups throughout the world. This past year alone, with the support of donor partners, Astraea granted more than $2.2 million to 210 organizations and 21 individuals in 109 cities across 43 countries.

As a fourth-year board member, I am proud to be a part of Astraea’’s work in moving forward social, racial, economic and gender justice.  What sets Astraea apart from other foundations and what makes me excited to become a lifelong donor is its commitment to movement building and to queer people of color.”

Read the full post on Feminist Teacher.

Visit Gender Without Borders’ International Women’s Day feature.

Gay Groups Invited to March in Lunar New Year Parade

BY Daniel Roberts and Erin Durkin

Read article at the Daily News

In a historic first, gay and lesbian groups marched through the streets of Chinatown Sunday in the festive Lunar New Year parade.

And they invited the Indian and Irish gays, too.

Wearing rainbow bandannas, about 300 gays and supporters waved versions of the fish and the phoenix, traditional Chinese symbols for prosperity and renewal.

They were joined by drummers and even a costumed tiger with its own rainbow armbands.

“We are ecstatic. It’s a huge step forward,” said Irene Tung, 31, a spokeswoman for Q-Wave, which led the gay contingent.

It was made up of marchers from groups that included St. Patrick’s Day for All and the South Asian Lesbian & Gay Association, which have been barred for years from the annual St. Patrick’s Day and India Day parades.

“Today is a historic breakthrough for this community, and someday I hope we will see the same on [St. Patrick’s Day],” said St. Pat’s for All founder Brendan Fay. “My feeling today was one of joy for this community.”

Unlike the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Fifth Ave., which has for years barred gays, organizers allowed the gay group to march.

Steven Tin, executive director of the Better Chinatown Society, said there was no reason to exclude the groups.

“Why not?” he said. “We basically welcome groups that want to do a cultural celebration.”

The thousands of revelers who packed Mott St. to watch the colorful parade ushering in the Year of the Tiger were mostly supportive, with frequent cheers for the gay marchers.

The Rev. Patrick Cheng of the Metropolitan Community Church marched with his 75-year-old mother.

“Given a lot of hostility in Asian-American evangelical communities, I think it’s good for me to come out and represent the religious side,” he said.

Mom Deanna Cheng said she’s getting more comfortable discussing her son’s homosexuality with her Chinatown neighbors.

“[I] try to make them listen and change their minds,” she said. “In the past, I wouldn’t have dared to say anything.”

Read article at the Daily News