Story Type: Donor Stories

Denise Kleis and Mary Beth Salerno

Like many donors, Denise and Mary Beth place confidence in Astraea’s knowledge of the issues and longstanding relationships with organizations on the ground.

Denise Kleis, a human resources executive, and Mary Beth Salerno, a veteran of corporate philanthropy, met in the early years of the women’s movement and have been together since 1979. Denise and Mary Beth believe strongly in Astraea’s mission and have supported the foundation since the late eighties. “I first heard about Astraea from one of its founders, and at that time, there weren’t many other organizations focusing exclusively on lesbian issues,” Mary Beth explained. “We thought that pooling our modest resources with others through Astraea was a terrific way to support issues that we cared a lot about; and we knew that if people like us didn’t support this work, how could we expect others to support it?”

Like many donors, Denise and Mary Beth place confidence in Astraea’s knowledge of the issues and longstanding relationships with organizations on the ground. Over the years, they felt fortunate to be able to increase their giving. There is so much “excellent work being done by creative, dedicated people who are coming up with innovative ways to help their communities,” said Denise. “We give to Astraea because of its expertise and leadership in the field of social justice grantmaking, which allows us to support global LGBTI social justice in a way that we just couldn’t accomplish on our own.”

Both women believe there are many different ways to be an Astraea supporter, one of which is to spread the word to others who might not be familiar with Astraea’s work. On a few occasions when they have celebrated an important birthday or anniversary, Denise and Mary Beth have suggested that their friends and family support Astraea in lieu of giving gifts. They share the conviction with the people in their lives that giving back to the worldwide community is important, since it is only by working together that we will be able to bring to life the vision of a more just world.

When discussing a vision for the future, this dynamic and dedicated couple echoes each other. They envision a world in which there is significantly more equality for LGBTI communities across the globe, less poverty and more tolerance of difference. Mary Beth and Denise believe in Astraea’s ability to make the necessary inroads, helping to transform their vision into reality.

Michael Seltzer and Ralph Tachuk

Michael Seltzer and Ralph Tachuk’s long-term commitment to social justice for all has meant that they have supported Astraea for more than 20 years.

Michael Seltzer and Ralph Tachuk—together more than 28 years—have a great understanding of the hard work social justice requires. Michael, a pioneer in nonprofit management and philanthropy, and Ralph, with his own years of experience working with social change organizations, were drawn together because of their shared vision of a world where, as Ralph put it, “social justice is a reality, not just for this group or that group but for everyone.” Their long-term commitment to social justice for all has meant that they have supported Astraea for more than 20 years. Their hope? That they can encourage other gay men to “see our common bonds with lesbians of all colors and understand that our struggles are linked entirely.”

Somjen Frazer

Somjen Frazer joined Astraea and the community of donors pooling their resources for substantial and sustainable change.

Somjen Frazer joined Astraea and the community of donors pooling their resources for substantial and sustainable change.

Somjen acted on her commitment to Astraea’s impact around the world by writing her monthly $100 donation into her consulting firm’s business plan. She said of her gift, “I love the idea of giving monthly, rather than annually or just when I’m asked. I grew up in a Southern Baptist community, where tithing 10 percent of your income to the church is the standard. Giving monthly is being thoughtful about what the opposition is doing and what we can do to match that.”

“I like Astraea because it believes in taking chances on groups that otherwise won’t get funded,” Somjen said. “Astraea helps me because I’m not in position to decide which groups to give to. Astraea has a decision-making model—utilizing the expertise of community activists—that I can trust.”

Astraea’s growing core of monthly donors provides dependable support throughout the year. Monthly gifts provide a consistent way to support feminist social justice work around the globe and can provide an opportunity to give even more by breaking the gift into installments. “Giving monthly makes it easier to give a substantial amount of money,” Arlene said. “I want to be able to give as much as I can because I support the mission.”

Arlene Bronstein

Margot became a lawyer and provided pro bono legal work for Astraea when it was founded, remaining an ardent supporter.

Arlene Bronstein was a 60-year-old lung-cancer survivor and retired law firm records manager. Somjen Frazer is a 27-year-old research and evaluation consultant for progressive non-profits and half of the comedy duo Mustache Clowns. What do they have in common? Astraea, for one. Both have expressed their strong commitment to LGBTI arts and activism around the globe by making a contribution every month. For decades, Arlene, Somjen and donors like them have been integral parts of Astraea’s success.

“I’m a quiet donor,” Arlene said. Though modest about her impact, Arlene was a monthly sustainer for nearly three decades. It adds up. Over the years, Arlene gave more than $20,000.

“At first, I liked that Astraea was the only charity devoted to lesbian issues, though that was not openly stated. Of course, it was also the connection to Margot Karle.” Margot and Arlene became immediate and life-long best friends in high school. Later, Margot became a lawyer and provided pro bono legal work for Astraea when it was founded, remaining an ardent supporter. After she passed away, Arlene began making contributions in her memory.

“Now there are other lesbian charities,” Arlene said, “but in my mind, Astraea still is the most diverse regarding the community it deals with. Astraea interprets ‘community’ in the widest possible sense.”

Arlene and donors like her have helped insure the growth and impact of Astraea, from a small regional foundation granting just $6,000 in the first year to an international force for change, distributing $2.2 million last year to LGBTI activists working for human rights worldwide.

Note: Arlene Bronstein passed away on September 18, 2017. Please click here for more information.

Dr. Marjorie Hill

“I also don’t remember the first time I met my cousin,” she explains. “Like family, Astraea has always been there.”

Dr. Marjorie Hill, health professional, public policy advocate, and current CEO of Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), can’t remember how she first heard about Astraea. “I also don’t remember the first time I met my cousin,” she explains. “Like family, Astraea has always been there.”

And Dr. Hill has always supported the work. The willingness of Astraea to be out—out about being lesbian and out about working for racial and economic justice—inspires her to support the Foundation. “I am an African American woman, and I’m a lesbian, and I’m very out about both of those things,” she says.

“But it’s not just that Astraea is out about being a lesbian-led organization; it’s a lesbian organization that does important, strategic work,” says Dr. Hill. Astraea funds the arts, and supports organizing in the U.S. and internationally—ultimately facilitating a global movement for the empowerment of LGBTI people. At Astraea’s 2006 Giving and Activism Retreat, she made connections with activists from around the world—from Bosnia, China, Uganda, and the U.S.—all Astraea donors and grantees, many of whom, like Dr. Hill, were meeting and strategizing together for the first time.

Dr. Hill knows intimately the work required to fundraise for women’s and lesbian issues. GMHC has grown from an emergency response to HIV/AIDS for white gay men, to an organization that today has a client base 65% people of color, and is the largest HIV/AIDS service provider for women. Though the focus of the work is HIV/AIDS, the underpinning is social justice—working to provide equal access to health care and quality providers, and to remove all racial, gender and class barriers that impinge on rights and quality of life. In May 2008, Dr. Hill became the first LGBTI person to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange. The ceremony honored the AIDS Walk, which primarily benefits the work of GMHC.

Dr. Hill remembers a favorite Astraea a T-Shirt. On the front: Lesbians Are Great Leaders, and the back: You Are Following One. As one of our Movement’s most accomplished activists, Dr. Hill is a leader worth following.

Diane Sabin

“I love Astraea because of the connections you help forge; because you fund activists in parts of the world that I can’t find on a map; and because there’s a sense of family that extends from your New York City office to everyone who comes into contact with you.”

Diane Sabin, DC, has been a community activist since 1973. Currently she serves as the Executive Director of the Lesbian Health and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. Diane has a long history with Astraea. She served on the Board of Directors, co-hosted the launch of the Justice Social Program, and was the recipient of the Astraea Philanthropic Activism Award in 2001. Diane lives in San Francisco with her partner, the writer and activist Jewelle Gomez.

On the last morning of Astraea’s 2006 Giving and Activism Retreat, there was barely a dry eye in the house. Streaming to the microphone to address the Astraea staff, members and grantees alike spoke from the heart about Astraea’s work, each committing a multi-year pledge to the Foundation. While Diane is reluctant to claim this idea as her own, (“I saw an opening, and then the idea became ours.”) she is happy to reflect on her dedication to Astraea, and what led her to organize such a riveting act of collective support:

“I love Astraea because of the connections you help forge; because you fund activists in parts of the world that I can’t find on a map; and because there’s a sense of family that extends from your New York City office to everyone who comes into contact with you.

The Retreat was extraordinary. The wisdom and multiple identities of the people gathered in that room was awe-inspiring. You harnessed that energy and created a space which helped break the taboo of talking about money and class. You enabled people to deal with the complexity of that reality individually and collectively.
The Retreat also echoed Astraea’s work by setting a tone of engagement and conversation. Whether you were standing in the buffet line or asking a question in a plenary, there was an overarching sense of linking activism on a global and local scale.

People were looking to thank Astraea in an active way. We asked the Astraea staff to sit at the front of the room in order to take in this love, acknowledgement and validation — that you give to others every day. Without a doubt, everyone left that Retreat a stronger person — hopefully empowered to initiate actions like this again. If we could add more zeros to the amount of our giving, we’d see a faster revolution toward a world where social justice, peace and passion prevail.”

Dorothy Abbott

As a young girl growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, in the fifties, I knew no lesbians.

As a young girl growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, in the fifties, I knew no lesbians. I probably didn’t even say the word until I was almost an adult. And I certainly didn’t know myself as a lesbian. But I did know who my heroes were and I picked them well: Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Mead, Virginia Woolf, Lillian Smith, and Ruth Benedict-
all women I later found out to be women-loving women.

As a teenager I loved biographies of women and remember reading one about Jane Addams and Hull House. More than twenty five years later, in a women’s studies class at the University of South Florida, I was amazed to discover that Addams had lived in the same house and shared the same bed with Mary Rozet Smith for forty years.

Why couldn’t there have been a photograph of them together in that biography I read as a young girl? Why couldn’t there have been just one page about those years during which they shared a vision of love and concern for each other?

Audre Lorde, the “black, lesbian, feminist, mother, warrior, poet,” was an adult when she discovered Angelina Weld Grimke. Grimke, a black lesbian poet, lived in total isolation and died less than two miles away from where Lorde grew up. Lorde said she often wondered what it would have meant to her as a young lesbian to have read Grimke’s work; and what it would have meant for Grimke to know that someone needed her words.

They were lost to each other.

Lorde didn’t want this to happen to anyone else. If there was anyone who needed to know that Lorde was a lesbian, she wanted them to know. As Lorde taught us, silence is no protection. And for lesbians and gay people, visibility is survival. We need to be out in the world saying, “Here we are. Deal with us.” We need to be united in our commitment to freedom; transforming the solitary voice to a collective one.

Author and peace activist, Barbara Deming, commented in an interview about her early life: “I could always tell a lesbian by the half-quizzical, wounded look in her eyes; but now we have the clearest faces.” I am a member of the Astraea Lesbian Action Foundation because they have made it possible for so many of us around the world to have those clearest of faces. I am truly dedicated to Astraea’s belief that only through action can we build a world of peace and justice for lesbians, and for society as a whole.

Dorothy Abbott is a resident of Memphis and has been an Astraea member since 1996. As founder of the Women’s Radio Fund, Abbot has a long history of involvement with media, including print, radio, music, film, and the oldest medium of all: Conversation.