May 3rd At NYC's LGBT Center: Community Forum On Youth Homelessness

Via press release from the Ali Forney Center:

We'd like to invite you to attend a forum on May 3rd at New York City's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (208 West 13th) which will examine the struggle to protect the thousands of youths who have been rejected by their families due to homophobia, and seeks to articulate a vision of equality for LGBT families which incorporates protecting youth as a more central focus. The need to examine this has been made more urgent by the recent budget put forth by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, which cut funding for homeless youth services by 50 percent. These cuts risk the closure of a number of youth shelter beds, putting vulnerable youth on the street, and disproportionately harming vulnerable LGBT youth.

The forum starts at 7pm and speakers include Cathy Renna, Tobias Wolff, and AFC executive director Carl Siciliano.

NYC LGBT Center Israel Flap Continues

Earlier this week the NYC LGBT Center canceled a planned Israel Apartheid Week meeting after gay porn kingpin Michael Lucas threatened to have the Center's wealthy donors pull their support. Immediately after the event's cancellation, a petition went online with a demand that the Center not let "wealthy bigots censor free speech." Among the petition's sponsors are well-known activists Cleve Jones, Judith Butler, and Sherry Wolf of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.

Today the Village Voice's Steven Thrasher interviews Wolf, who says it's an insult for her group to characterized as a "hate group" by a pornographer. (Snap!)

"More than half of [Siege Busters] is Jewish, and the others are mostly Arabs, and they call us anti-Semitic? Isn't the center a place where different people are supposed to meet and discuss? Shouldn't Jews and Arabs, gay and lesbian and transgender, working together towards peace be something that is celebrated? We cannot allow a wealthy porn entrepreneur to dictate what kind of speech is allowed, at a center whose very mission is to represent the oppressed and the marginalized!"

Read Thrasher's full interview.

SATURDAY: Furball NYC @ LGBT Center

Tomorrow is NYC's Furball party at the LGBT Center in the West Village with DJs Corey Craig and Mark Lauque.

It's 3 floors of fur, 2 DJ's, go-go bears, great music, cheap beer, hot guys and warm warm fur...and you and over 700 furry friends...So hit the dancefloor and shake it out before you hibernate for the winter! And it's a fundraiser for the Center! What are you waiting for? Host: Joe Fiore. GoGo Bears!

Doors open at 8PM and tickets are only $10. Expect it to be very crowded.

Los Angeles LGBT Center Wins $13M Federal Grant To Help Gay Foster Kids

We needed this kind of great news today, we really did. Via press release:

Today the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center was awarded a landmark $13.3 million, five-year grant from the Federal Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Administration on Children, Youth and Families to create a model program that will provide life-saving support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in the foster care system. Following a highly competitive review process, six grants were awarded—the Center’s grant is the only one specifically to support LGBTQ youth and the only grant that did not go to a government agency or academic institution. It’s also the largest federal grant ever awarded to an LGBT organization.

The need for services for LGBT youth in foster care is dire. According to a 2001 (Feinstein) study, 78% of LGBTQ foster youth were forced to leave their foster placements due to hostility related to their sexual orientation or gender identity. In a 2001 study from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, 70% reported physical violence and 100% reported harassment in their group home. Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services (GLASS), the only group home for LGBTQ foster youth in Los Angeles, closed its doors in 2008 (with its displaced residents turning to the Center for much-needed support).

Stand by for the wingnut screaming. Which will be delicious.

NYC LGBT Center Unveils Massive Replacement Rainbow Flag

Yesterday NYC's LGBT Community Center had a ceremony to unveil a massive new rainbow flag after somebody taped a burned and torn flag to their front wall.