ALMOST THERE: Pride Series 2021 Pt. 2
Jun, 14, 2021
***TW: this post contains non-graphic descriptions of mental health issues, suicide, and violence specifically within the queer community***
Happy LGBTQ+ Pride Month! ALMOST THERE unequivocally supports the queer community, and we are so excited to celebrate Pride with all of you. For those of you who don’t know the history of Pride, June marks an important month for the LGBTQ+ community as celebrations are held all over the United States honoring the queer community and commemorating the historic Stonewall riots. Although Pride Month is a celebration, it is also very much a political event protesting the unjust treatment of queer community. ALMOST THERE would like to highlight 6 organizations EVERY WEEK for the entire month of June! We are committed to researching and expanding our knowledge and your knowledge on the various initiatives and missions that these organizations uphold in order to better support our LGBTQ+ family! Here are the organizations we’ve chosen for the second week of Pride!
SNaP Co. stands for “Solutions Not Punishment Coalition.” This organization is based in Atlanta, and it is Black, Trans, and Queer led. It’s guiding principles include ending the “mass crisis of criminalization and gender based violence against” queer communities. SNaP Co. fights to protect Trans sex workers against criminalization, police brutality, and prison expansion. The organization work is quite significant. SNaP Co. provides many opportunities such as:
- a program to train and educate collaborators how to take action
- an internship that addresses mass criminalization
-an opportunity for Black Queer Creatives to win cash-based prizes
For more information, please visit https://www.snap4freedom.org/about
2. GLAAD
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is a network dedicated to “rewriting the script for LGBTQ acceptance.” GLAAD address a wide variety of issues, and the network does so through different points of media. The network is committed to amplifying stories of the LGBTQ community and doing so to “accelerate acceptance.”
For more information, please visit https://www.glaad.org/about
The Okra Project is a “collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People.” The meaning behind the collective’s name holds so much rich cultural history and value. The Okra Project addresses food insecurity which is an issue that has only been amplified by the COVID-19 crisis.
For more information, please visit https://www.theokraproject.com/
4. National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network
The National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN) is a “community of care, resource sharing, connection, and learning for QTPoC providing and seeking mental health resources.” The network provides a variety of services such as practitioner development, healing resources for QTPoC, technical assistance for social justice organizations, and field building. All of these resources work to provide a safe space to specifically focus on advancing mental health at an intersectional level.
For more information, please visit https://nqttcn.com/en/
Gender Diversity is an organization that works to support all gender identities. It increases awareness of gender diversity across all ages, and they provide support and trainings for schools, workplaces, and health care providers. Key work can be seen in inclusion policies in Washington and Michigan.
For more information, please visit http://genderdiversity.org/about/
6. FORGE
Like the NQTTCN, FORGE does a variety of things to support the transgender and non-binary community. The organization advocates for systems of reform, and looks to reduce the impact of trauma in queer communities. FORGE operates around four core beliefs: resiliency, profession-specificity, every person is valuable, and that binary systems create arbitrary lines which harms resilience. The organization participates in task force to support reforming legislation and it currently leads the LGBT division under the Office for Victims of Crime project, the National Resource Center for Reaching Victims where it creates resources for crime victims.
For more information, please visit https://forge-forward.org/
Thank you so much for reading! We hope you for this post informative, and we can't wait for you to read about some new organizations next week!!
Of course we have to give a special shoutout to The Trevor Project! Don’t forget that 10% of all proceeds during Pride Month from ALMOST THERE will be donated to the Trevor Project!!
XOXO
Miranda Le & Stella Patel
ALMOST THERE