National LGBT orgs issue a ‘National call to Action’ on the killing of Trayvon Martin

An Open Letter: Standing Alongside Trayvon Martin’s Family and Friends 

The tragic killing of Trayvon Martin is a national call to action. Our hearts go out to Trayvon’s family and friends for the loss they have experienced. We stand in solidarity with them as they demand answers and justice. We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies. 

Many in our community have been targets of bigotry and bias. We have a great deal of experience grappling with the role bias plays in violent crimes against our communities. We well know the stories of young people targeted for violence just because of who they are: Rashawn Brazell, Lawrence King, Ali Forney, Deoni Jones, Brandon White, Matthew Shepard, Angie Zapata, Sean Kennedy and countless others.

Trayvon’s killing is a wakeup call to the enduring cancer of racism and racial profiling. The pain his family continues to endure transcends communities and unites us all. Every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety. 

Trayvon’s killing is tragic and the stark reality that racial bias played a role in his death has alarmed our nation. Questions must be asked. Answers must be sought. And justice must be served. We join our voices to the chorus of so many others to demand that local and federal authorities find those answers. We stand in solidarity with Trayvon’s family and friends as they seek justice for his killing. In the timeless words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Signatories:
CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers
Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals
Equality Federation
Family Equality Council
Freedom to Marry
GLAAD
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
Gay & Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA)
GLSEN
Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC)
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality
International Federation of Black Prides
Lambda Legal
LGBT Progress at the Center for American Progress
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE)
National Coalition for LGBT Health
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Stonewall Democrats
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
PFLAG National
Pride at Work
Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE)
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN)
The Trevor Project
UNID@S

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A BOLD Gathering to empower LGBT People of Color

Last weekend, leaders from several LGBT organizations of color gathered in Minneapolis to discuss issues that beset our communities. My group, the Jordan Rustin Coalition, was there, along with others.

Here's a little more on the purpose of the gathering:

The BOLD Gathering in Minneapolis, Minnesota over the Dec. 2-4 weekend was designed to empower LGBT leaders of color to meet this “movement moment” when LGBT communities of color profoundly intersect with the economic crisis and the right wing response to such issues as immigration – and the opportunities offered by communication through new technologies and social media. Jumping off from the fact that people of color are becoming the majority in the US,  the conference asked questions such as: “Are we, as QTPOC (Queer & Trans People of Color), a strong arm of a bigger movement (such as the mainstream gay movement) or are we leading a movement of our own?  How can we, as QTPOC people, affect the creation and direction of a movement that brings about the change for which we dream and work?  What do we need to know?”

Please go here for more info on the conference and the attendees.

10 Questions about the Mysterious Event called OutGiving 2011

I want to make this clear; I'm not trying to throw shade, I'm trying to get some answers.

The other day, I learned about this conference called OutGiving. Here's the press release

Cool, sounds like a great event, but there were a few things that raised my eyebrow.

OutGiving is an invitation-only event, no press allowed. We expect approximately 200 men and women whose cumulative net worth is in excess of $2 billion dollars to join us at this conference. These gay, lesbian and allied supporters’ combined philanthropy and political giving is estimated to be in excess of $100 million annually. Attendees also include leaders from the corporate and foundation community who are instrumental in funding LGBT causes, as well as many executive directors of LGBT organizations.

Okay, in some ways this sounds like a gay Hellfire Club without Emma Frost or Selene. So here are my concerns/questions

1. Why is this a private affair? If they are making decisions on LGBT issues, raising hella money and courting 200 mystery guests, shouldn't we know what's really going on?
2. And who are these mystery guests? If they are our allies or supporters, why are they hidden?
3. No press allowed? If Obama or HRC did this, there would a haterade for the next 3 months from certain bloggers and activists. Where is the transparency?
4. This 'net worth of 2 billion' is not a small deal, I'm concerned that we have no idea who these people are. What do these people do?
5. Why wasn't the major LGBT orgs invited to this event? If I wasn't a comic book geek, I wouldn't think of this as a shadow group trying to take over... But I am a comic book geek and this doesn't feel right.
6. Who are the other speakers, besides Pam Spaulding?
7. Going back to the net worth of these "guests", how is this supportive of the grassroots movement? It's like saying if you don't make as much or if your net worth ain't high, you can't play in these reindeer games.
8. Apparently the attendees signed a confidentially agreement. Why? What needs to be kept quiet?
9. According to ngblog, the cost to attend OutGiving was $1400. Why is this so expensive and where is the money going?
10. Since the Gill Foundation is behind this, what is their reason for OutGiving? What are they hoping to achieve?

Now, I know I sound all X-Files and stuff, but this bothers me a bit. This event needs to be explored and more questions need to be asked. If this meeting is about our movement and our future, we should know everything about it.

Thanks to Nelson for looking into this.

New Report looks at the Finances of 39 leading national LGBT Organizations

A new report focuses on the 39 leading LGBT organizations and their finances. The MAP report (Movement Advancement Project) revealed some interesting pieces. Chris Geidner writes:

Among the most striking findings is that more than 96 percent of LGBT adults contributed less than $35 to any of those 39 LGBT organizations in 2009. According to MAP, "only 3.4% of LGB adults have donated to a participant" organization. Less than 15,000 people gave $1,000-plus donations in 2009.

Moreover, the 3.4 percent number is likely a dramatic overstatement. As the report notes, "Given that the combined donor figure almost certainly includes a significant number of heterosexual allies and individuals who contributed to multiple organizations, the actual portion of LGBT adults who have donated is likely much lower than 3.4%."

Another interesting finding related to staffing, which MAP found "is roughly racially/ethnically representative of the broader U.S. population." Of the 808 staff members combined among the 39 organizations, 32 percent were non-white – with 12 percent each identified as African-American/Black and Hispanic/Latino(a), another 7 percent identified as Asian/Pacific Islander and the remaining 1 percent identified as Native American/Other. Board make-up, meanwhile, was more white, with a full three-quarters of the 689 board members identified as white.

Gender make-up was nearly balanced, with 46 percent of staff and 40 percent of boards identifying as women and 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively, identifying as genderqueer or other. Both staff and board make-up included 6 percent who identified as transgender.

If you are curious, please check out the report
2010 National Lgbt Movement Report

Chris Geidnder's "State of Play" provides much needed Real Talk about LGBT advocacy

Chris Geidner from Metro Weekly produced a "Real Talk" article about LGBT orgs., Obama and the state of LGBT advocacy.

I was glad to read this part from Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.

''Congress and the president have lots of priorities, they really do. They have to be working on the economy, they have to be working on health care, they have to be working on the environment – and they have to be working on LGBT rights,'' she says. ''Their job is to work all those priorities together. Our job is to make sure they put our rights in their priorities. … And you know what? We weren't able to do that this year.

''We had a colossal fail this year. But it is simplistic and unhelpful to say that any particular person failed, because every single one of us failed.

''The community failed. The movement failed. The organizations failed. Congress failed. The president failed,'' she says. ''Government failed – part of why government failed is because they didn't prioritize us. Partially that's because we didn't make them, partially it's because the Republicans were just obstructing everything, partially it's because our community didn't step up enough, partially it was because our community was scattered in what they wanted. But we failed together.''

Despite that, Keisling says the community has to be ''realistic'' about the past two years.

''We still made a lot of progress, we really did. We still got more done in the last two years than we've ever gotten done in two years before.''

Keisling's comments are harsh but not altogether negative and reflect the current reality as assessed by the leaders of many LGBT organizations looking back over the past two years.

I would encourage you to take a look at this piece. Chris is (I believe) one of the few LGBT journalists who tries to be unbiased in his work.

pic from Metro Weekly