May 19: AMAZINGLY QUEER RACE
Save the date, May 19, for QEJ’s 6th Annual Amazingly Queer Race!
Stay tuned to www.q4ej.org/queer-race for the latest!
Email jay@q4ej.org for questions or concerns.
QEJ Holds a Vigil for Yvonne
QEJ Holds A Vigil for Yvonne
On Sunday October 2, Yvonne McNeil, a resident of New Providence Women?s Shelter, was murdered by the police in an uncalled for act of violence.
A regular at QEJ events and support groups, Yvonne was a kind, reserved member. She marched with us at Pride and was a reliable source for other LGBT people at New Providence. Yet this was not taken into consideration as NYPD unnecessarily shot Yvonne five times following a supposed altercation between her, her partner and the police.
Please join QEJ staff, residents, volunteers, family and friends as we hold a vigil in honor of Yvonne?s life and every other person who is targeted by the police because of who they are and where they live.?The vigil will be on Friday November 18, from 5-7pm at the New Providence Shelter located at 225 East 45th St.
We will be having a moment of silence for Yvonne as well as a silent walk around the block together?showing the New York City community that low-income queers will not be taken advantage of and that we are a community wiling to support each other.
If you can help volunteer for the vigil either by picking up shelters and escorting them to New Providence or coming to our office at 2pm to help make sack dinners for vigil participants, please email carlos1@q4ej.org
For more information, call QEJ at 212.564.3608, email jay@q4ej.org or carlos1@q4ej.com
Queer Voices
For the past month, QEJ and Brooklyn-based writer, Sassafras Lowery, have teamed up in leading Queer Writing Workshops. Intended for anyone interested in our work–volunteers, shelter residents, stakeholders and more–to come together and write their stories. These classes have been informative, powerful and loads of fun for everyone involved.
Our writers have written some amazing work ranging from stories to poetry to non-fiction. Join us this Friday, August 12th at the QEJ office at 6pm for QUEER VOICES: A Performance by QEJ’s Writers’ Group. We will be listening and supporting each others’ spoken word and talent and we hope you can be there to join!
Food will be provided, metro cards are available to those who need them.
Sit back and relax as we turn the QEJ office into a hip writers’ cafe! We’ll see you there!
Sunday! QEJ Joins Forces with Labor Orgs To Show Solidarity at NYC Pride March
June 24, 2011
QEJ Joins Forces with Labor Orgs To Show Economic Justice Solidarity at NYC Pride March
Queers for Economic Justice, United Auto Workers (UAW), Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) & Walmart Free NYC Coalition join forces to make the economy’s impact on LGBTQ people visible at NYC Pride March
Contact: Amber Hollibaugh, Interim Executive Director, QEJ. 646.696.1266
Who:Queers for Economic Justice, United Auto Workers (UAW), Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) & Walmart Free NYC Coalition
What: NYC Heritage of Pride March
When: Sunday June 26, 2011, 1130am.
Where: Groups to convene at 39th Street between 5th Ave and Madison
New York, NY—For the first time in many years, New York’s Heritage of Pride Parade this coming Sunday will have an economic justice contingent in the parade, comprised of labor unions, Queers for Economic Justice, and the coalition to keep Walmart out of New York City.
“Whether or not marriage equality passes in New York, LGBT New Yorkers are in desperate need of affordable housing, healthcare, jobs that pay livable wages and access to services,” said Amber Hollibaugh, co-founder and Interim Executive Director of QEJ. “The time is right for QEJ to stand strong with labor, and vice-versa, to speak out against the targeting of public employees and their unions and the criminalization of immigrant workers, including LGBTQ immigrants. QEJ is proud to celebrate the power of the labor activism happening in Wisconsin and the Midwest. We hope our joint presence at the parade will remind people of the bread-and-butter issues many of us continue to face.”
National data all point to the fact that LGBTQ people, especially people of color, are more likely to be homeless, lack adequate healthcare, and be discriminated against in the job market. In 2010, QEJ released the results of a survey of 171 low-income LGBTQ New Yorkers and found that 70% of them were currently, or had been homeless at some point in their lives.
“Today’s part-time employed might be tomorrow’s homeless,” noted Jay Toole, QEJ Co-founder and Director of the Shelter Project at QEJ. “Every day I meet queer people in the shelter system who’s main problem is that they are unable to get a decent paying job, or any job at all. And you can’t get housing without work. It becomes a viscous cycle. I am glad QEJ is beginning to work with labor so that we can get more of our people into jobs, and more into affordable housing.”
While QEJ has largely made organizing and advocacy for queer and trans people who are homeless and on public assistance it’s focus, it is laying the groundwork to be organizing more LGBT people who work in economies where there are a disproportionate number of marginalized workers.
Anyone who wants to march with this contingent of the Pride Parade should arrive at 11:30am on East 39th Street bet. 5th Ave & Madison Street.
For more information visit:
Queers for Economic Justice: www.q4ej.org | United Auto Workers: www.uaw.org | Walmart-Free NYC Coalition: walmartfreenyc.org | Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union: www.rwdsu.org
A quick glance at our Summer events!
Summer is still poppin’ at QEJ with out awesome August events. Check it out!
- Jay’s Walking Tour on Saturday, July 30th. The famous Jay Toole, QEJ’s shelter organizer, will be leading a tour of her life through the 60′s as a homeless butch lesbian. The tour will begin at 12:00pm in Washington Square Park and last about 2 1/2 hours.
- Queer Writing Workshops on August 3rd and August 10th–both from 6:30-8:30pm. Lead by Brooklyn-based writer, Sassafras Lowrey, these workshops are for shelter residents and friends to explore their creative side and share with a queer-friendly group. Food and metro cards will be provided. Our writers will have a Queer Performance on Friday August 12th at 6pm where they will read their work. This event is open to the public.
- Are you interested in being a shelter facilitator? QEJ works in several shelters around NYC organizing queer shelter residents; if you want to learn more join us for Shelter Facilitator Orientation on August 5th (6-7:30pm) and August 6th (1-2:30pm). You only have to come to one! At this orientation Jay and Carlos will lead the group in learning how to facilitate shelter sessions.
- Come to QEJ’s 2nd Leadership School on Saturday August 13th from 12-5pm. This 4-5 hour workshop is intended for activists and shelter residents and will discuss queer history, defining racial/economic justice, and learning about the systems of economy. Food and metro cards will be available.
- Sunday August 15th is QEJ’s August Game Night! From 6-8pm we will be relaxing with some snacks and fun games. Scrabble? Monopoly? Spades? What’s your favorite game? Come school us (or watch us school you) as we enjoy a relaxing Sunday night together.
- Saturday August 20th is the 2nd Monthly Resident’s Movie Night. Join QEJ and friends from 6-9pm as we watch The Aggressives, a hard-hitting documentary about masculine butch lesbians. A discussion will follow the movie showing. Food and metro cards available.
- Monday, August 29th, QEJ’s Board Chair Terry Boggis will lead a Know Your Rights Training at 6pm. This event is for anyone interested in understanding their legal rights family issues and family law.
All events unless otherwise noted are held at the QEJ office. Metro cards are available to those who need it. We are located at 147 W. 24th St., 4th Floor New York, NY 10011
Support us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Queers-For-Economic-Justice/18201778500
QEJ Pride March
Do you want to march in the Pride March on Sunday June 26th but don’t have anyone to march with?
Well look no further friend, come join QEJ as we proudly show New York that poor queers are just as important to the movement as anyone else. QEJ staff, volunteers, shelter residents and more will be struttin’ our stuff down 5th ave, and we would absolutely love it if you joined
Meet PROMPTLY 12pm on 39th St btwn. 5th and Madison Ave…look for the QEJ Van
RSVP with Jay at 917 939 2511 or jay@q4ej.org
Economic Justice Matters Now More Than Ever
This was a year of hard times for many people in the United States.
And you well know, this was a year of hard times for QEJ also. We had to shrink our staff–eliminating our Welfare Organizing position, and cut our grantwriting consultant. Due to the shrinking endowments of foundations, we have fewer funding opportunities. We received a payment from NYS Department of Health very late due to the state’s own fiscal crisis.
But we came to you, and you heeded our call to action. With your great generosity, we raised $28,000 in just two weeks. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for supporting us in our emergency.
Most of us know what it’s like when money is tight?many of us are struggling right now. And because of that, we know that we will survive it. But it means we have to rely on each other more, and not less. It means we have to cut some corners, but not cut our spirit, our fight, nor our joy. And it is in this spirit of resistance that QEJ has still been able organize and agitate for a new vision for LGBTQ communities and continues to create and push a new progressive queer agenda:
Successes:
- On June 17th, 2010, QEJ?s Welfare Warriors Research Collaborative (WWRC) released a report entitled ?A Fabulous Attitude; Low Income LGBTGNC (Gender-Non-Conforming) People Surviving and Thriving on Love, Shelter and Knowledge.? The report was released with an accompanying 30-Minute documentary called Taking Freedom Home produced and directed by WWRC member Kagendo Murungi, and is now online.
- QEJ continues to run support groups in NYC Shelters for LGBT people. We?ve run groups in 5 shelters over the course of 2010, serving more than 300 people this year. We have a team of 7 shelter facilitators who we train to run those groups. We?re continuing to have more straight allies in the shelter groups attend, people who initially express homophobic and transphobic feelings, but note they are transformed by the experience.
- Our National Public Education Project hosted 7 Act Queer Monthly Teleconference Calls this year, and QEJ reached thousands of people by hosting panels, trainings or keynoting conferences such as the SAGE Conference, United States Social Forum, Creating Change, NAACP National Board Meeting, Campus Progress; at several universities including Oberlin College, NYU, Fordham University, UC Berkeley, Syracuse University, and American University. QEJ?s reach has even gone international, as we presented at Severely Queer (Edmonton, Canada) and the Trudeau Foundation Conference (Winnipeg, Canada).
As you may know, Kenyon Farrow is stepping down as Executive Director, but is not going far. In his dedication to QEJ, Kenyon will continue to play a critical role in QEJ’s work going forward. QEJ Co-founder and former board member Amber Hollibaugh is now serving as Interim Executive Director.
Like most people and organizations facing hard times, we’re committing ourselves to see through the struggle. So in 2011, we’re gearing up for another year or organizing, advocacy and activism on economic justice. Here’s what we’ve got planned:
- We continue to provide Know Your Rights trainings for LGBT people in the shelter system, where we bring in lawyers and advocates who do workshops to help homeless LGBTQ people navigate various social service and public benefits agencies. We have filmed several of those trainings, that we will have online in January 2011, and will do outreach to LGBT community and service providers to be able to use those online resources.
- We are embarking on a campaign to ensure the safety and decrease the harassment and violent targeting of LGBT people in NYC homeless shelters.
- QEJ is increasing the ways stakeholders can participate in the work and decisions of the organization by developing work groups and committees. We are looking at the prospects of becoming a membership organization.
- In Winter 2011, QEJ will be hosting its 2nd annual organizing school. We are developing a new popular education curriculum to help poor and low-income people understand the economy, and the current economic crisis.
- Look for our newly designed website, www.q4ej.org in early 2011!
- QEJ will be releasing the collection of essays A New Queer Agenda as an online issue of The Scholar and the Feminist Online, published by the Center for Research on Women at Barnard College.
Times are hard. But we’re committed to this work. And we hope you will join us in your commitment to our communities by making a special year-end one-time gift to QEJ for 2010, and consider becoming a monthly sustainer. Donations can be made online on our website at www.q4ej.org/donate.
On behalf of our members, our constituents, our staff and board, we want to thank you for your generous support. When you give to QEJ, you are making a commitment to justice for all queers, despite their income, race, ability, legal status, or gender identity. Through that commitment, you are helping all people struggling in these hard times to survive. Thank you!
Towards a brighter New Year,
Amber Hollibaugh & Kenyon Farrow
Interim Executive Director & Executive Director
Aug 19: Act Queer! Teleconference on HIV/AIDS
Despite the lack of leadership from the Left and LGBT Movement on the AIDS epidemic, queer and trans people, poor people and people of color continue to be disproportionately impacted by the epidemic. Recently there have been some major developments in HIV/AIDS policy and research, and we anted to share with you these exciting updates:
JOIN THE CALL TO FIND OUT!
Please RSVP to this call.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
2pm-3:30pm EST/11am-12:30pm PST
Conference Call # (712) 432-0600
Password: 751219#
Moderator: Kenyon Farrow, Queers for Economic Justice (New York, NY)
Presenters include:
June 17: Act Queer Teleconference: REAL ID, Jobs Bill, TANF!
As we gear up for the US Social Forum Queer People’s Movement Assembly we’re co-hosting, we wanted to take a look at 4 major policy issues happening this year (The REAL ID Act, TANF Reauthorization, American Power Act and the Local Jobs for America Act) that impact queer lives, and ways we may be able to organize around them.
JOIN THE CALL TO FIND OUT!
Please RSVP to this call.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
2pm-3:30pm EST/11am-12:30pm PST
Conference Call # (712) 432-0600
Password: 751219#
Moderator: Kenyon Farrow, Queers for Economic Justice (New York, NY)
Presenters include:
Donna Pavetti, Center for Budget & Policy Priorities. (TANF)
Ari Rosmarin, New York Civil Liberties Union. (REAL ID Act)
Francis X. Tobin, Jobs with Justice. (Local Jobs for America Act)
Nia Robinson & Kari Fulton, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (American Power Act)
The purpose of the Act Queer! teleconference series is to connect grassroots LGBTQ, racial,and economic justice organizations with national queer and/or allied coalitions and organizations to share information and strategies on racial and economic justice issues.
6/17: Welfare Warriors Release “A Fabulous Attitude” Report & Film
