Building on the Wins of LGBTQ Organizing

North Star Fund has been funding LGBTQ grassroots organizing since before “queer” was a reclaimed term. After decades of success in changing attitudes and laws that labeled LGBTQ people as “other” or less-than-human, there’s now a reactionary movement to push back on civil rights and cultural gains, particularly targeting the Trans community.

New York City and the Hudson Valley can play a central role in holding the ground we’ve won on this issue and gaining more ground for liberation for all LGBTQ communities throughout the state and the country.

The power of LGBTQ community spaces

There’s still a power in creating community spaces that LGBTQ people, especially young adults and communities facing other legal jeopardy, can call home. With grantees from House Lives Matter, Newburgh LGBTQIA+ Center and GLITS many of our LGBTQ grantees create safer spaces for people to be themselves and build community while also serving as gathering spaces to identify issues of concern, develop political strategy and organize to change the world.

LGBTQ organizing and legal systems

Anyone who was active in queer community prior to the 1980s remembers the frequency in which the law was used against the LGBTQ community. From the sort of raid that factored into Stonewall to the lack of legal protections, there are still important battles to be won for LGBTQ people when it comes to the law, especially immigration law. Queer Detainee Empowerment Project is organizing around conditions of confinement and also how immigration law impacts LGBTQ people. The SRLP is a nationally-known community that protects and defends the right to freedom of gender expression. Caribbean Equality Project provides support for LGBTQ asylum seekers, as does Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP).

Building a vocal Trans movement

We have a growing number of grantees who are catalyzing the growing energy of the Trans movement including Black Trans Media and Black Trans Nation. It’s a powerful testimony to the growth of the LGBTQ movement that addressing homophobia and transphobia is now a stated priority of many other social movements.

Many of our LGBTQ grantees are organizing at the intersection of gender identity, queerness and other targeted identities including immigrants, sex workers and BIPOC communities. We’re committed to continuing the long fight for liberation so that LGBTQ people feel at home everywhere in New York.