April is Staceyann Chin Month! Join Astraea in celebrating Staceyann’s new book, The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir. Staceyann Chin, an award-winning perfomance artist based in New York, is a recent panel judge for the Lesbian Writers’ Fund and a performer at Astraea’s Lynn Campbell event in 2005. Astraea shares Staceyann’s commitment to social change through cultural work.
$20
FREE
Join us at Lambda Legal’s Women, Take the Power: Life & Financial Planning Forum, where we will discuss the need for lesbian, bisexual, transgender women and women living with HIV to take extra steps to protect themselves and their families. We will explore second parent adoptions, wills, healthcare proxies, and offer tips for surviving todays economy and more.
Panelists include:
Thursday, April 2, 2009
6:30 9:00 PM
Light refreshments will be provided and children are welcome.
This event is free and open to the public.
Sponsored by:
Join Astraea and the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) for The Struggle for LGBT Human Rights in the Middle East: a Panel Discussion featuring Astraea grantee partner, Helem.
Speakers include:
Helem is an Astraea Social Change Opportunity Fund (SCOF) Grantee Partner and recipient of IGLHRCs 2009 Felipa de Souza Award. The organization has been leading the struggle for the liberation of the LGBT community in Lebanon from all forms of legal, social and cultural discrimination since 2004. Helem (the Arabic acronym of “Lebanese Protection for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders”) is a pioneering force in Lebanon and integrates components of community building, organizing and service provision to carry out their mission.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
7:00 9:00 PM
This event is free and open to the public.
Co-sponsored by:
Astraea Foundation
You’re invited to a screening of Juggling Gender and the new video, Still Juggling, by Tami Gold (with Jennifer Miller 15 years later) and the Coney Island Side Show. Enjoy live Juggling by Jennifer Millera performance artist who just happens to have a beardand exciting discussion.
Friday, March 27th, 7:30pm
Brecht Forum
451 West Street (between Bank & Bethune ST) [map]
New York City
Tickets $10
For more information email [email protected]
JUGGLING GENDER: Politics, Sex and identity A loving portrait of Jennifer Miller, a lesbian performer who lives her life with a full beard. Miller works as a performance artist, circus director, clown and as the “bearded lady” in one of the only remaining sideshows in America. In public she is often mistaken for a man, an experience she handles with the wit and intelligence that characterize her stage performances. JUGGLING GENDER explores the fluidity of gender and raises important questions about the construction of sexual and gender identity.
STILL JUGGLING 15 years later A new video with Jennifer Miller fifteen years following the making of JUGGLING GENDER, discussing family and religion, gender and the beard, the side show then and now, life as an artist and Circus Amok.
* * * *For all those interested in the construction of sexual and gender identity this video is a must!” VIDEO RATING GUIDE FOR LIBRARIES
. . . . remarkable video about Jennifer Miller, a performance artist who just happens to have a beard. Rotating masculinity and femininity the way some folk change shoes, Miller confronts gender every time she hits the streets.” Manohla Dargis
Astraea Grantee Partner, FIERCE, has been making incredible progress. Their White Paper, created in collaboration with the Urban Justice Center, is the first-ever from a queer youth organization in New York City. It aims to ensure the needs of the entire community are being metparticularly those who are most vulnerable during the economic crisisin the redevelopment of a section of piers on the New York City waterfront. The Paper was officially released at a public event to a crowd of over 100elected officials, community organizations, service providers, LGBTQ youth, West Village residents and the press. A key goal of FIERCE’s campaign is a 24-hour LGBTQ youth center on the pier. Astraea is proud to have signed on to the Paper.
Read the White Paper and Sign On!
By JOSEPH HUFF-HANNON for the New York Times
So we all just went on a date with the Hudson River Park Trust, said Ms. Ross, who is an organizer with Fierce, a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender minority youths. But you know, we’re a little fed up.
The response was wild applause and hooting from the overflow crowd in the gallery, where white columns were wrapped with pink ribbons.
The trust oversees the planning, construction and operation of Hudson River Park and all the piers that run from Battery Park to 59th Street. Members of Fierce are particularly concerned about Pier 40, a massive but dilapidated structure that juts into the Hudson River where West Houston Street meets the West Side Highway.
Since the pier sits just south of Pier 45 at Christopher Street, long a gathering spot for youths like the members of Fierce, many of them say that the trust hasn’t always paid them much mind in the deliberations about what kind of redevelopment plans are appropriate for the pier.
Fierce and the Urban Justice Center, a public-interest legal group, are asking that any plan include a 24-hour youth center. Such a center, they hope, would offer services like job training, transitional housing, recreation and safe space.
”The pier is just the place to be, to hang out and be who you are,” said Tiffany Browne, an 18-year-old budding photographer from Brownsville, Brooklyn, who arrived with a big camera swinging from her neck. ”I spent all last summer down there.”
As Ms. Browne darted off to snap some photos, a 24-year-old who calls himself Mango chimed in with a similar story.
“Where I’m from in Harlem, you don’t hear too much about L.G.B.T. issues,” he said. ”Down here, it’s our only place to hang out, to relax.”
Members of Fierce acknowledge that a youth center won’t be an easy sell, especially in the current economic climate; last year, $5 million was cut from the budgets of organizations like Fierce. But since the trust may be eligible for federal stimulus money, advocates for the young people hope that their voices will be heard when it comes to development.
But the trust has considered previous proposals that included a youth center and has ruled that they would not work, primarily for financial reasons. Officials at the trust would not comment on their larger development plans, but they did say that any stimulus money would likely be directed to basic repairs at Pier 40.
“There are a bunch of pilings that need to be replaced,” said Lee Silberstein, a spokesman for the trust. ”The first order of business is really to make sure the pier doesn’t collapse.”
More about FIERCE
FIERCE member Ra Ruiz tells her story: a compelling account of how much a simple pier can mean. FIERCE continues its campaign to protect public space and build a 24-hour queer youth center on New York City’s Christopher Street Pier.
Click the image to watch the full photo/audio documentary.
Ra Ruiz was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in the Bronx, where for two years she and her mother and brothers endured periods of homelessness. She graduated from Evander Childs High School in 2005, and now is a junior at the New School, living in a dormitory in the Upper East Side that she says is too loud late at night.
Astraea presents Justice in the Making, our 2008 Annual Report. It is an invitation to connect with a powerful network of donors, activists, artists and organizations working for human rights. In it we celebrate LGBTI activists who are changing the course of history around the world.
Our 30th Anniversary year was busy and fruitful. We awarded $2.2 million in grants to 198 organizations and 21 individuals in 47 countries–representing a 20% increase over the previous year. We’ve enhanced our systems and better harnessed the power of the web. We held two anniversary gala events, and a number of smaller events that introduced our work to new supporters across the country. Most importantly, we’ve seen real progress in the fight for LGBTI justice.
As we strategize for the future, we pay tribute to those on whose shoulders we stand–our Astraea family–Founding Mothers, current and former board, staff and grants panelists, volunteers and committed grantee and donor partners. Each has helped Astraea become a global force for LGBTI human rights.
For more than thirty years, Astraea has been at the forefront, providing meaningful support to organizations that champion LGBTI communities–often representing their first or only viable funding. In the times ahead, we continue to stand with our grantee partners. We stand with those who generously give of their time and resources in order to sustain this vital work of social change. And we stand with each of you.
We hope you see yourself reflected in this report. We certainly do.
Astraea invites you to the second annual FrostbiteME, a three-day LGBTI celebration. Enjoy Chill, the centerpiece event, on March 7 with a night of dancing, cocktails and cheer at the Eastland Park Hotel in Portland, ME. Astraea is among the sponsors for this fabulous menu of delicious events to help shake the winter blues.
March 6th – 8th in Portland, Maine Visit www.frostbiteme.com for details.
ENJOY:
skiing at Sunday River
EqualityMaine Dinner
First Friday Art Walk
film screenings
free ice skating
book signings
cooking demos
Portland Pirates games
childrens events
music events
theater events
comedy shows
speed friending
much more!
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is pleased to name Beverly Blake as its Director of Development. A former chemist and attorney, Blake entered the non-profit sector and built an impressive background in development. Blake is particularly recognized for her skills in strategic planning, multi-million dollar fundraising, and operational problem solving.
“After a rigorous search process, the Astraea staff and board is delighted to welcome Beverly as our Director of Development,” Katherine Acey, Executive Director said, ”A seasoned fundraiser, Beverly’s skill, vision and commitment will prove invaluable in continuing to build Astraea’s capacity even during these difficult financial times.”
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is the world’s only foundation solely dedicated to supporting LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) organizations globally. Last year, Astraea issued more than $2.2 million in grants to organizations in 120 cities and 47 countries around the world working for empowerment and human rights.
“I know what it is to be marginalized. It is unacceptable,” said Blake, ”I am committed to empowering myself and others to work for personal freedom and human dignity. Astraea provides a way to do that and have a broad impact in the struggle for social justice and equality.”
Blake has eight years experience creating and implementing development campaigns for organizations dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of marginalized groups including those living with HIV/AIDS, LGBTI and homeless people. These organizations include Harlem United Community AIDS Center and the Doe Fund. Blake is also a former corporate executive who applies her expertise to the increasingly intricate demands of non-profit management. She holds a BS in Engineering Chemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook as well as a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa, College of Law.
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The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice works for social, racial, and economic justice in the U.S. and internationally. Our grantmaking and philanthropic advocacy programs help lesbians and allied communities challenge oppression and claim their human rights.
Media Contact: Melissa Hoskins, Communications Associate
Phone: 212.529.8021 x26 Email: [email protected]
Just released: our Spring 2009 issue of eThreads. Read, watch and be inspired by Astraeas incredible community of grantees and donors from Cape Town, South Africa to Texas. Hear Bin speak about lesbian, bi, and trans activism in China. Find out how Felicia made a personal connection to Astraea through philanthropy. And that’s just the beginning. Find out more now.
