Grantee Spotlight: LGBTQ Literacy
Whether we first heard it in television ads for mobile libraries in the 1970’s, or whenever RuPaul opens the “library,” one thing most of us can agree on is that “reading is fundamental.” This issue, we wanted to focus on organizations that promote literacy in the LGBTQ space in hopes that you might explore them further as you look for nonprofit organizations to fund.
Hope in a Box is a four-year-old Brooklyn organization that works with librarians, teachers and administrators in schools to cultivate environments that put LGBTQ students on the path to success. They believe that an inclusive classroom, a caring teacher, and a relatable book can be life changing to students as they come out, which typically coincides with the developmental period in which students are particularly open to positive messaging. Hope in a Box provides libraries of 20-25 curated books featuring LGBTQ characters and themes, curriculum guides written by veteran educators and tied to Common Core standards, and community building and mentorship trainings and facilitations around LGBTQ-inclusive education. For more information about the work they do and to see some of the impact, book lists and curriculum guides they provide, visit them at www.hopeinabox.org.
Lambda Literary has been working for over thirty years to nurture and advocate for LGBTQ writers, elevating the impact of their words to create community, preserve our legacy and affirm the value of our stories and our lives. In the mid 1980’s, Lambda Rising Bookstore in Washington DC published the first Lambda Book Report which brought critical attention to LGBTQ books. Two years later, the Lambda Literary Awards were born and over the next thirty years a series of writers retreats, in school programs, online resources and other programs were created, including the Lambda LitFest, a weeklong celebration of queer authors. Visit them at www.lambdaliterary.org
Bluestockings Cooperative is not a nonprofit organization, so we can’t advise you to make grants to them, but we can offer them up as an organization worthy of your support as a patron or as a member. Bluestockings is New York’s only queer, trans AND sex worker run bookstore. For over 21 years they’ve been a collectively-run activist center, community space and feminist bookstore that offers mutual aid, harm reduction support, non-judgmental resource research and a warming/cooling place that is radically inclusive of all genders, cultures, expansive sexualities and identities. They’ve existed as a model for integrating direct programming grounded in the community with sustainable labor practices and engagement in political education. For more about them, or to become a member of their programs, visit www.bluestockings.com.