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
2011 Amazingly Queer Race Date Announced
AMAZINGLY QUEER RACE 2011
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Yes, the 5th Annual Amazingly Queer Race for Economic Justice is happening Saturday, May 14, 2011! We’ll have more of the same—queer racing, queer challenges, queer prizes, and of course… LOTS OF QUEERS! We’ll be setting up to register teams soon, so start asking your friends! We’re also looking for some fabulous people to help organize the race, so if you can volunteer a few hours or a few days, please email volunteer@q4ej.org. In the meantime, email all questions about the race to race@q4ej.org.
See you all at the Amazingly Queer Race!
Jay, Rebecca, Dan, Marita, and Tyler
New Video: See the Work Your Donation Supports
Dear Friend,
Many people around the country know QEJ from our presence at Creating Change, the Act Queer Teleconference Series, our Beyond Marriage statement, or some of the other national work we do to bring an economic justice perspective to queer organizing.
But fewer of you know what our work in NYC looks like on a day to day basis. Much of our NYC based work is organizing LGBTQ people in the NYC shelter system. As we come to the end of the year, and if you are still debating about where to make your end-of-year donations, or you’ve been looking for a way to tell your friends about QEJ, take a look at this video we’ve recently produced (with the help of QEJ intern Nicole Henry) about QEJ’s work on queer homelessness in NYC.
After viewing, please make a tax deductible contribution to QEJ, and forward this to 10 friends, asking them to make a donation as well.
LGBTQ Homelessness: Your Support Matters
Dear Friend,
Did you know that the average cost of renting an apartment in NYC is now $2700 a month? It’s no wonder then that the number of people in NYC shelters reached an all-time high in 2010 of 39,000? Our own recent survey of 171 low-income LGBTQ New Yorkers found that 70% were currently homeless, or had experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. Nationally, we know that queer homelessness is at crisis levels, as many urban centers have hugely disproportionate numbers of queer and transgender people who are homeless (adults as well as youth). And despite high numbers of homeless queer people, many are invisible in many organizations and in our queer community spaces.
Queers for Economic Justice has made homelessness the foundation of its work in NYC, running support groups in NYC shelters for LGBT people, linking queer homeless people to friendly social services, providing trainings for our constituents as well as service providers serving our community, and advocating for policy change at the city-level. QEJ trains volunteer facilitators to run those support groups in shelters to first provide a sense of community, and from there, it is possible to organize for social change.
We have found that many of us who are homeless are experiencing violence, discrimination and isolation. In 2011, we’ll be focusing more on ending violence and discrimination against LGBT people who are homeless. Won’t you make an end-of year conribution to support QEJ’s work organizing queer homeless people?
Tomorrow, we’ll be sending you a short video about our work in the NYC shelter system. We hope that after viewing, you’ll not only make an end-of-year donation to QEJ, but will also share the stories from the video with your friends, colleagues, and comrades.
Happy Holidays,
QEJ
Kenyon Farrow: Why I Support QEJ
In 2005, I walked into one of QEJ’s Know Your Rights Trainings for 25 LGBT homeless people in our shelter project to lead a resume writing workshop. My life as an activist was changed. I found my political home. And since then, I’ve been with QEJ in many capacities, and most recently as Executive Director.
Next Wednesday will be my last day in the office as Executive Director. Though I will not be paid staff, I am staying with QEJ, and I hope you will too. Please consider making an end of year donation to support economic justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people?
I’m asking for your support because I know, not because it’s my “cause.” I am from Cleveland, OH, and knew many many of the gay, lesbian, bi and trans people in the poor black neighborhood I grew up in. Some of them are family members, some were close family friends. This community of poor and working class queers is where I started when there was no movement reaching out to us, when there weren’t any organizations.
When I came out as a gay man about 17 years ago, in the so-called “Gay 90′s,” I was shocked to find I could not find people like my mother’s best friend “Uncle” Roger, my sister’s friend James, the transgender woman I saw pass by window nearly every day, as part of the movement for LGBT rights.
But everyday at QEJ in our office, at our events, at our shelter groups, I work with people who are much like the kinds of queers people I grew up with, and continue to make up my chosen family. QEJ is more than just an idea, or a set of politics. It is my home. It’s our home, and we need your support to continue our work of building community in order to build a movement, to make real change.
That’s why I support QEJ. And I hope you’ll make a donation, and become a monthly sustainer. Make us your home too.
In struggle,
Kenyon Farrow
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
Update: Thank You for Helping QEJ Through Its Crisis
Dear Friend,
Last week we reached out to our supporters because we needed your help. QEJ faced a major cash flow crisis due to political fighting in Albany which stalled $40,000 in funding we were awarded in late summer of 2009.
Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, we raised $18,000, also meeting the matching gift of $11,000 created by friends of QEJ . Because of this support, we did not have to furlough staff and shut down operations. This funding will help us continue to our unique work organizing and advocating for the thousands of those in our community who are homeless, poor, working class, and largely people of color marginalized from the mainstream LGBT community.
We at QEJ are so deeply humbled and overwhelmed by this outpouring support. To our friends and communities, THANK YOU for standing with us and supporting QEJ’s work for justice. This support will help QEJ continue our essential operations in the weeks ahead. To show you our appreciation, QEJ staff made a short video to thank all of you for helping us in this critical time. Click here to see our message.
You should know that QEJs efforts to expedite the release of the grant also paid off, as we finally received the contract this week from Albany to receive our long-awaited funding. This will set us back on track in the next month when we should receive the money.
A compounding factor for with the cash flow crisis was the fact that QEJ was also told that we had move by the end of this month. Our landlords did not renew their lease with the building and we were in a position of looking for a new home for QEJ while dealing with the immediate crisis, facing the real possibility of being without a home in addition to furloughing our staff. Thankfully this worst case scenario did not come to pass! We found a new space that will help us to further serve our constituencies better. Details about our move will be coming next week.
Again, THANK YOU so much for your generosity, good-will and support. QEJ is lucky to have you as our ally in our fight for a more socially just world. We could not be more grateful to have you as our supporter.
With much appreciation,
Kenyon Farrow
Executive Director
P.S. – You know it took us more than one take to make this video. And just for you, we prepared another video of our outtakes. Click here to see our case of the giggles.
Update on QEJ’s financial crisis and next steps: What you can do NOW to sustain QEJ!
Dear Friend,
As you may already know, earlier this week, QEJ faced the real possibility of having to furlough our staff, suspend vital services for its constituents and temporarily close its doors today. This was due to a cash flow crisis created by the delay in the release of a promised $40,000 grant by New York State that has been stalled for months due to political fighting in Albany.
To meet this crisis head-on, we at QEJ mobilized quickly. We cut expenses, our Board gave what they could, QEJ reached out to close friends and a generous Foundation began the process of advancing a grant to us. But we needed to be liquid immediately.
As a last recourse, QEJ turned to our base for help as your on-line gifts go directly to QEJ. Thanks to individuals like you, since Monday, QEJ has been able to raise $9,000 so far. We at QEJ are so deeply humbled and overwhelmed by this outpouring support. To our friends and communities, THANK YOU for standing with us and supporting QEJ’s work for justice. This support will help QEJ continue its bare essential operations in the weeks ahead.
Now, our goal is to reach at least $11,000, as friends of QEJ have pooled their resources and promised to match up to $11,000 to meet the crisis if we can raise that ourselves. QEJ needs your help in a final push to raise that $2,000 difference.
With additional support from you, we will be able to secure this generous match, and with enough support, QEJ can be fully operational. Please consider making a gift today of $100 to help us reach our goal. Gifts of any size are deeply appreciated and will go a long way in supporting QEJ as the leading national voice on behalf of low-income and poor LGBTQ people.
QEJ is just just short of reaching our goal. Please help QEJ maximize our efforts to sustain QEJ and its work until the New York State grant is distributed. Thank you for your generosity and consideration.
And thank you, so much, for helping QEJ continue our critical work for the most marginal within the LGBTQ community and our unique voice for sexual & gender liberation and economic justice. One of QEJ’s greatest resources is our supporters, and we are so fortunate to have YOU as our partner in the fight for a more socially just world.
With the utmost gratitude,
Kenyon Farrow
Executive Director
P.S. You can further support QEJ by forwarding this e-mail on to your friends, loved ones and communities and asking them to donate to QEJ as well. Thank you again for your consideration.
Emergency: QEJ Urgently Needs Your Support TODAY!
Dear Friend–
On behalf of Queers for Economic Justice, I write to respectfully ask that you consider making an emergency gift of $100 to QEJ today to help us meet an unexpected financial crisis. Your gift will also count towards a matching gift of up to $11,000 created to meet this crisis. To those who have already given, thank you so much for your support.
Why QEJ is seeking your help
Over the past few months, the fighting in Albany has held nonprofit groups hostage by stalling disbursements of promised grants. This has left QEJ $40,000 in the hole, as we were expecting our grant by now. QEJ is a lean organization, and so this delay is nothing short of devastating. We have no alternative but to turn to our supporters in this most dire time.
Why QEJ needs your immediate support
Without your support today, we cannot make payroll this friday and continue our important work on behalf of the most marginal people in the LGBTQ community, including:
· Ongoing support groups in shelters for homeless LGBTQ people in New York City
· Advocacy on behalf of LGBTQ people on welfare
· Public education on the effects of the economy on poor LGBTQ people
Your gift will count now more than ever. Click here to make a difference.
What QEJ is doing to meet this crisis head-on
• We’re working with our allies in Albany to expedite the release of our grant. One of our Foundation partners is also advancing a grant to us. However, both efforts take time, and we need immediate support
• Our Board has given what they can and is reaching out to secure support
• We’ve cut down on all but the most essential expenses
• A group of QEJ’s friends promised to pool their money and make a gift of up to $11,000 if we can match it. Since Monday, thanks to supporters like you, we’ve raised $7,230. We are humbled by such generosity, but still need your help to reach our goal by this Friday.
Your gift matters now more than ever
Please consider making an emergency gift of $100 to QEJ by clicking here. We are grateful for anything you are able to give, and all gifts, regardless of size, will allow us to continue our critical work for poor and low-income queers. On behalf of the Staff, Board, and constituencies we serve, thank you so much for your good-will and solidarity during his critical time.
With deepest appreciation,
Kenyon Farrow
Executive Director
P.S. You can further support QEJ by forwarding this e-mail on to your friends, loved ones and communities and asking them to donate to QEJ as well. Thank you again for your consideration.
Last Chance to Support QEJ in 2009!
Dear QEJ Supporter,
We know that April 15th seems like a long way off. But your 2009 deductions end tomorrow night! It’s not too late to make a tax deductible gift to QEJ — one that will fuel our social justice work in 2010. We’ve made major advances this year in our campaign work locally and in raising the visibility of economic justice issues for queers nationally. There is much more work to do to ensure that working class, poor and low-income LGBT people receive justice in our society, but we’re hoping to continue to organize, and to make our communities visible in the LGBT movement, and in broader progressive movements across the country.
QEJ has always taken difficult and principled stances on issues that are sometimes unpopular with some elements of the LGBT community. Members of our board and staff have sometimes come under harsh criticism from bloggers or movement leaders for being divisive, reverse racists, complainers who aren’t realistic or practical in our idea of social change. We organize on the issues that are important to our base–that’s our queer agenda.
That is why we coordinate support groups for queer and trans people in the shelter system. That is why we organize queer and trans people on welfare to advocate for better welfare policies that expand access for trans and gender nonconforming people. That is why we organized a national mobilization of LGBT organizations to push for the inclusion of the public option in federal health care reform. Your donations help us continue to work on the issues that prioritize the lives of queer people at the margins of our movement.
Though we’re being told that we’re pulling out of the recession in 2010, we know that poor and working class queer people will still be unemployed and discriminated against at the welfare office, working in jobs with low wages, no health care for themselves or their families, and unable to take sick days without fear of being fired. After the economy recovers, our work will not be complete.
Won’t you make an end-of year donation to support true economic justice?
All of us at QEJ thank you for the support you’ve shown us over the years, and we wish you and yours a Happy New Year!
In struggle,
Kenyon Farrow