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Nat
09-15-2011, 12:00 PM
I often fantasize about having some sort of LGBTQ union(?) guild(?) nonprofit(?) fraternal organization(?) that we could join, pay dues to based on our incomes, and in exchange meet the specific needs of our community.

Specific examples:
Affordable Group Medical Benefits (Including all the normal healthcare needs, but also including funding for transitions and baby-making)

Access to affordable Legal Representation and Counsel (to help with issues with same-sex partnerships, wills, power of attorney, divorce, marriage, second parent adoption)

Adoption services

Advocacy

Youth Support (helping LGBTQ foster kids, runaways and throw-aways find support and housing - also helping the children of LGBTQ parents find community)

Prisoner support and post-prison support

Addiction support

Career Counseling and Coaching

Financial services and advice

Assistance with Education and Job Training

Insurance specifically catering to our needs (outside of health insurance, already mentioned above)

Elder support and advocacy (A study just came out showing our community members are more isolated with less support than their straight counterparts. Also I remember a horrible story a while back about a couple being forced into separate nursing homes and one dying while the other was separated. I dont know if there are LGBTQ retirement communities which include nursing facilities but I hope there are by the time I get there)

Alliance with companies, agencies, nonprofits, service providers who are LGBTQ-friendly (for example, currently I have an iPhone through AT&T. My understanding is that apple is very supportive of the LGBTQ community, but AT&T makes contributions to anti-LGBTQ candidates. I would love it if the iPhone were available through a carrier which is strong in supporting our rights)

Immigration support for same-sex binational couples and for folks who are endangered by the laws of their home countries due to their LGBTQ status

Education for schools, police, firepeople, businesses and medical personel concerning the specific needs of our community

Support for the disabled within our community

Support for those of us who bridge more than one marginalized community

Support for the targets of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes

Coming-Out support

Support for LGBTQ-owned small businesses

The list goes on and on. My wish is that enough of us could form a group that would be strong in numbers and with a broad enough financial base to make a difference in the quality of life among the members of our community.

Is this possible or a pipe dream?

JAGG
09-15-2011, 12:20 PM
It is totally possible. "If you can dream it you can become it." If you can imagine it, you can act on it. I love the idea.

always2late
09-15-2011, 12:45 PM
Its a great idea...as a nurse I especially like the idea of some sort of assisted living/skilled nursing facility for seniors. I believe there is another thread around about this topic. And you are right, members of our community are more isolated in their last years...and I find that heartbreaking.

Gráinne
09-15-2011, 12:54 PM
What about making one right here? Maybe not dues-paying, but I'd almost rather see a list of resources for all those things than the "arcade". It would probably get more use.

Starbuck
09-15-2011, 12:54 PM
I totally love the idea! What we need is SPONSORSHIP! Big companies to get on board too along with us. Anyone good at writing grant proposals? And what about affiliation with LGBTQ friendly politicians? :phonegab: I'm brainstorming here, just throwing out ideas.

Nat
09-15-2011, 02:14 PM
Yay - I'm glad this idea might have teeth. And I love the idea of using this thread as the beginning of pulling together info on existing resources and other needs to be addressed.

Two other needs that popped into my head:

Help for LGBTQ people affected by domestic violence and those who are homeless.

I remember long ago seeing an ad somewhere for an insurance agent who specialized in insuring the LGBTQ community. It would be great to begin a list of folks already out there serving our community. The big dream would probably come to fruition through babysteps if enough interest could be generated. :)

JAGG
09-15-2011, 06:05 PM
What about making one right here? Maybe not dues-paying, but I'd almost rather see a list of resources for all those things than the "arcade". It would probably get more use.

She didn't mean that!!!! DELETE DELETE DELETE Some of us absolutely love the arcade, and could not live without it, just the thought could provoke grand mal seizures, or blindness, or massive bleeding from all orifaces , she was only joking JOKING JOKING HERE!!! Right guihong?(evil eye stare down)

Nat
09-17-2011, 05:36 PM
So just to gather some resources already out there:

National LGBT Cancer Network - advocating for health equality (http://www.cancer-network.org/cancer_information/cancer_resources_for_the_lgbt_community/)

Nat
09-17-2011, 05:52 PM
New York's "The Center" (http://www.gaycenter.org/)

"The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center provides a home for the birth, nurture and celebration of our organizations, institutions and culture; cares for our individuals and groups in need; educates the public and our community; and empowers our individuals and groups to achieve their fullest potential."




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More about us:
Established in 1983, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center has grown to become the largest LGBT multi-service organization on the East Coast and second largest LGBT community center in the world.

Every week, 6,000 people visit the Center, and more than 300 groups meet here. In addition, our myriad meeting rooms are booked months in advance, indicating the community is as hungry as ever for a place to call its own.

We provide groundbreaking social service, public policy, educational and cultural/recreational programs. We also serve as an incubator for grassroots groups that meet here. Indeed, we were the birthplace of organizations such as the AIDS activist group ACT UP and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the principal organization combating homophobia and stereotyping of gays in the media.


Among our groundbreaking programs:
Center CARE Wellness (Counseling, Advocacy, Recovery and Education) is the Center’s adult mental health and wellness program. Since 1983, the Center has been at the forefront of creating awareness for HIV and AIDS, as well as providing counseling, education, prevention and bereavement services. Center Adult services have also been innovators in making available ground-breaking alcohol and substance abuse prevention and treatment services that are tailored to LGBT people; helping people of transgender experience find support, information and community; and helping individuals deal with their anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns.


Youth Enrichment Services (YES) focuses on ending isolation experienced by many LGBT youths. YES offers professional development training for youth workers, child welfare workers, teachers, guidance counselors and school administrators. YES also has a leadership training and networking project for students working to end homophobia in their schools.

As a result of intense focus on substance abuse prevention and treatment over the course of the past 22 years, the Center opened Center CARE Recovery in November 2007. Center CARE Recovery is a licensed, medically supervised intensive outpatient substance abuse and dependence treatment program that uses an abstinence model and incorporates a range of holistic services. Since opening, Center CARE Recovery has offered more than 6,100 units of service, screened more than 500 people for services and referrals and admitted more than 210 clients into the program with a linkage to heath care.

Culture at the Center spans a wide array of expression from dance to theater to fiction readings to operatic performance and much more. As the Center partners with cultural organizations around the City, we are expanding the reach of our artistic offerings to reach broader and more diverse audiences. The Cultural Programs Department engages an extensive variety of artists, authors, speakers and activists to create a safe space for culture and the arts to be well-represented at the Center and among the larger LGBT community. By cultivating new artists, understanding the demands of established performers, encouraging younger activists as well as inviting seasoned advocates, we embrace all segments of our community and integrate them into the Center’s world.

In addition, one of our prime functions is to provide affordable meeting space for LGBT organizations, many of which would otherwise have no place to go. The lack of affordable, harassment-free space in New York has pushed several organizations to the brink of extinction. Stepping forward more than once, we have ensured the delivery of much needed services and programs.

GENERAL INQUIRIES: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center is open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. We are located at 208 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011. For more information, call 212.620.7310.

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Some of the Groups meeting at the center:

American Veterans for Equal Rights
Circle of Youth
Trans Partners
Pride Toastmasters
Planning Biological Parenthood for Women
Genderqueer and Transgender Parenting Group
Gay Geeks
Family Law Clinic
Immigration Support Group
HIV Support Groups
Immigration Social Action Group
Spiritual Living
Skills for Emotional Health
Planning Biological Parenthood for Men
Building your Professional Network

Advocacy:

out more below:

Community in Crisis: Be a part of the Solution
Recent events that have been highlighted in the news remind us that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community is still a target of hate. The acts of violence and bigotry perpetrated against LGBT individuals are attacks on our entire community. Learn more about what the Center can do to help.

LGBT community stand against the anti-LGBT violence in Puerto Rico
Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood
DSM-5 Gender Identity Disorder Reform
Immigration Reform
Promote the Vote
Marriage Equality
Project Pushback: Change the Conversation on the Freedom to Marry
Prop 8
Causes in Common: Reproductive Justice & LGBT Liberation

Center Care Wellness:

Foundations for Recovery
Gender Identity Project
Grief & Bereavement
Group Services
HIV & AIDS
Services for LGBT Immigrants
Lesbian Cancer Initiative
Life Coaching
Mental Health
Professional Training
SmokeFree Project

(Hey, maybe we just need to all move to New York :))

Nat
09-17-2011, 05:55 PM
LGBT Community Centers Worldwide (http://www.lgbtcenters.org/Centers/find-a-center.aspx)