Celebrating LGBT Philanthropic and Grassroots Activism

"The struggle for Lesbian, Gay, BiSexual, Transgender and Queer equality has always been anchored from our great cities like New York. And North Star Fund has been a proud and visible supporter of the LGBT movement from the outset - supporting the Lesbian Mother Custody Center and Men of All Colors Together in our very first year of grantmaking in 1979," said North Star Fund Executive Director Hugh Hogan.

"Our support for grassroots LGBT activism has grown and deepened since then. And it has been underwritten by LGBT donors who helped found and build North Star's network of givers. This year's brunch was another great stride in building even deeper connections between LGBT donor activists, cultural workers and grassroots organizers. And boy did everyone look great too!"

As thousands gathered in New York to celebrate LGBT culture and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, North Star Fund did its part with our second annual LGBT Community Brunch on Saturday, June 27, 2009. The third in our brunch series this year, the LGBT brunch is a friendraiser that seeks to ensure that the many movements fighting for the rights and freedoms of LGBT folks and disenfranchised communities everywhere are well resourced and strategic.

Gathered in the cozy DANAL Restaurant in Greenwich Village, this year's brunch brought together over 60 LGBT professionals to hear presentations from North Star Fund grantees working at the intersection of race, poverty, the arts, youth organizing, homelessness and pride in New York City's LGBT communities. We socialized with friends old and new, mingled with colleagues, and got an insiders perspective on the experience of LGBT youth in New York City, and their myriad struggles to find a spiritual, material and artistic home in Gotham.

North Star Fund Board Treasurer Jason Franklin welcomed the guests and explained how North Star Fund's support of grassroots activism and community organizing is taken on discrimination against low-income LGBT communities.

Everyone was then treated to an excerpt from the newly adapted spin on the Wizard of Oz, this time set in the South Bronx by the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD) . We're here, we're queer and we're going to embrace and celebrate our sexuality and identity has Dorothy rolling with a whole new set of yellow brick road friends. Arthur Aviles, Founder and Director of BAAD, a North Star Fund grantee since 2007, later described how BAAD partners with artists who are not being heard due to their identity or sociopolitical message. BAAD also fills a crucial need by creating artistic and mentoring opportunities for LGBT youth.

Hugh Hogan reflected on the vital spaces that groups like BAAD and FIERCE are creating for LGBT youth of color -- reminding everyone that estimated number of homeless youth who are LGBT in NYC runs as high as 45%. Too many LGBT youth continue to be rejected by their families and kicked out of their homes.

Rickke Mananzala, the Executive Director of FIERCE , a North Star Fund grantee from 2003-2006, explained how his organization has been building a community of politically conscious LQBT youth of color. They are being trained as leaders to win community friendly victories for all people in the West Village. This includes FIERCE's campaign to prevent Pier 40 from being privatized into a commercial area, dubbed as "Vegas on the Hudson." This youth-led campaign has served as a model for other NYC groups working to prevent the privatization of public land.

The brunch concluded with another lively performance by BAAD, and guests continued to mingle and build a sense of community. The brunch reminded us how important it is to bring together philanthropic and grassroots activists to re-imagine and transform our city.

North Star Fund thanks Host Committee Members Lule Demmissie, Jason Franklin, Bruce Morrow and Katrina Schaffer for making the LGBT Community Brunch a huge success.