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Newsletter
QEJ Winter Newsletter In this newsletter… 1) Building Coalitions with the
QEJ Immigrant Rights Project 2) New QEJ Project: Beyond Same-Sex
Marriage 3) Welfare Project & Shelter
Updates 4) Get Involved! 5) QEJ Highlights Economic Justice
Issues at National Conference 6) Thank You to Our Funders! 7) We Need Your Help - Donate
to QEJ ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Building Coalitions with the QEJ Immigrant Rights Project It’s been an exciting and
busy fall for the new Immigrant Rights Project, headed up by Debanuj DasGupta. Focusing
on movement building, we have been working with LGBT immigrant groups around the National
LBGT Immigrant Rights Coalition Much of this fall has been devoted
to developing a unified national platform regarding LGBT immigrants with LGBT immigrant groups around the country. Debanuj
has been leading this coalition work, which includes participation by AGUILLAS, Audre Lorde Project, Chicago Area Lesbian
and Gay Immigration Alliance, Immigration Equality, KHUSH TEJAS, Love Sees No Borders, Out 4 Immigration, Queer Immigrant
Rights Project, and others. Nearly complete, the document laying out the unified platform will soon be presented to (non-immigrant)
LGBT organizations and (non-queer) immigrant groups to sign. This final document
will be used not only to build a national coalition, but will also serve as a platform for subsequent advocacy. Local
and QEJ has also been building relationships
with local non-queer immigrant groups such as DRUM and the New York Driver’s License Coalition, and we will be working
with them on a variety of local campaigns. Upcoming efforts include working with Elliott Spitzer to make changes to the current
drivers’ license regulations. In addition, QEJ is now part of the National Immigrant Solidarity Network. Throughout the last several months,
Debanuj has presented workshops on immigrant and queer rights intersections. He also served on the national planning committee
for the 19th Annual Creating Change Conference, which took place in Lifting
the Ban on HIV+ Immigrants We have been working with the
Queer Immigrant Rights Project and GMHC in ------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) New QEJ Project: Beyond Same-Sex Marriage We are pleased to announce that
QEJ has become the home for a new project that began with the creation of the statement “Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: Strategic
Vision For All Our Families and Relationships.” Stay tuned in the coming
months as we develop our work in this area. An
Alternative Vision Articulated In the spring of 2006, 20 LGBT
activists and leaders from around the country – including several QEJ board and staff members – developed a vision
for reframing the current “gay marriage” debate. This group of diverse
activists developed a proposal for expanding the vision beyond the narrow confines of marriage equality to embrace and protect
all kinds of families – not just couples. Calling for innovative strategies that recognize the fight
for marriage equality as only part of “a larger effort to strengthen the stability and security of diverse households
and families,” the statement advocated building alliances across issues and constituencies in order to work for government
protection of all families. Released in July 2006 as “Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: A New Strategic Vision For
All Our Families and Relationships,” this document was signed by over 250 noted activist, scholars, organizers, lawyers,
writers, and artists. Emergence
of Broad National Support The statement garnered a flurry
of press attention (including from the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsweek, CBS, and more) and generated broad
support and interest across the country. The Beyond Marriage website (www.BeyondMarriage.org) saw over a thousand requests to sign the statement. Those who signed on included leaders, board members,
staff, and volunteers of local and statewide LGBT organizations, many of which have been fighting for marriage equality and
against anti-same-sex-marriage initiatives. Leaders signed on from LGBT organizations all across the country, including directors
and staff in state-wide organizations in Arizona, New York, Ohio, Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Michigan, Washington State,
Indiana, Arkansas, Florida, and Rhode Island. Also heartening was the fact that many people from other social justice movements
signed on – an exciting indication that we are on our way to creating a progressive bridge with allies working across
race/class/gender/issue lines. A large number of scholars, educators, and writers
– many of them involved in the pursuit of LGBT justice and liberation – were also signatories. Finding a Home at
QEJ After a successful initiation
of a wider national conversation about these issues, the original working group approached QEJ with a proposal that our organization
spearhead the ongoing work of this project. We have agreed to do so, and in the coming year, QEJ, in collaboration with some of
the initial group, will work to translate the ideas in the proposal into tools that will serve as resources for local, community-based
organizing around these issues. The shape and scope of this work is yet to be determined, but watch for updates on this exciting
new facet of our work. Visit www.BeyondMarriage.org to read the full statement and add your signature. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) Project Updates SHELTER
ORGANIZING PROJECT * New Face: We are pleased to welcome to Shannon Kearns, who joins us as the Housing Advocate MSW Intern. She currently
works three days a week with QEJ, focusing on advocacy around housing issues.
* Support Groups: We have trained a new batch of volunteers to run support groups in four new shelters around the
city. * Domestic Partnership Campaign: We continue to work with our allies
and with leadership at City Council to address the city’s refusal to recognize domestic partnerships with regard to
homeless couples applying to the family shelter system. Currently, most domestic
partners are faced with the choice of staying together on the streets or separating from each other and being sent to separate
single adult shelters. * Housing Stability Plus: Housing Stability Plus (HSP) is a 5-year rental assistance program offered to homeless individuals
and families (including childless couples) to assist them in moving from shelter to permanent residency. This policy has been
criticized because it requires a 20% rent increase every year, there is a work dis-incentive and housing conditions are often
deplorable. We are working with colleagues to reform HSP to better serve homeless
singles and families looking for permanent housing. * Coalition Work with NYC AIDS Housing Network and Housing Works: QEJ has joined the campaign to fight the new state
requirement that forces people with AIDS who get welfare and are in HASA housing to turn over most of their welfare checks
to supplement the housing costs. Advocates succeeded in getting a temporary injunction against the state, but we continue
to work towards a permanent solution. * Queer Law Conference: Shelter Organizer Jay Toole organized a panel at NYU during the Queer Law conference, where
she and other QEJ staff presented on a variety of issues facing transgender folks. WELFARE
ORGANIZING * Welfare Warriors (WW) Update: WW has developed a membership structure and has involved over 100 people (mostly
poor LGBTGNC) in our events. We are currently working to grow the size of the steering committee of WW. * Ending HRA Mis-Information Campaign: WW members have developed "Debunking the Myth of Welfare," a community workshop
that has been presented at various community organizations. * Shelter Safety Campaign: The Welfare Warriors are working with QEJ’s Shelter Project to initiate a campaign
to decrease the violence and harassment faced by LGBT people in the shelters. * Research Project: Welfare Organizer Doyin Ola and QEJ volunteer Michelle
Billies are developing a research project unearthing and documenting the issues, experiences, and survival mechanisms of LGBTGNC
folks who are poor. * Coalition Work: We continue to actively participate in coalitions such as Gender Action Coalition, with whom we
are working on a campaign to end discrimination against transgender people at HRA offices. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) Get Involved! Volunteers are needed on all of our
projects at QEJ. If you are interested in doing advocacy, organizing, outreach,
phone calling, research, or leading support groups for any of our projects, please contact the following people: * The Beyond Marriage Project (contact
Joseph at Joseph@Q4EJ.org) * The Immigrant Rights Project (contact
Debanuj at debanuj@q4ej.org) * The Shelter Organizing Project
(contact Jay at Jay@q4ej.org * The Welfare Organizing Project
(contact Doyin at DoyinO@Q4EJ.org) In addition, we can also use administrative
volunteers to work on data-entry, research, letter writing, running errands, filing, grant-writing, and more. If you are able and interested, please contact our volunteer office manager, Mary, at MaryG@q4ej.org. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) QEJ Highlights Economic Justice Issues at NATIONAL CONFERENCE On November 8-12, the staff and board
of QEJ attended the 19th Annual “Creating Change Conference”, organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
in We were pleased to have a very visible
presence at the conference, participating in 16 different 90-minute workshops and panels and running two all-day Institutes.
Contrasting with the focus of past years, issues of economic justice were fairly visible at the conference this year, largely
because of QEJ’s involvement during the last several years. Highlights QEJ facilitated an all-day Institute,
FIRST, CLASS: Economic Justice Issues in the LGBT Community. Panelists included
all four of QEJ’s staff, plus board members Kenyon Farrow, Lorraine Ramirez, Jessica Stern, and allies Mel Bramyn, Susan
Raffo, and Kay Whitlock. On Friday night, QEJ hosted a reception
that honored three outstanding women whose long-term work for LGBT liberation has always integrated economic justice work.
The well-attended event celebrated Terry Boggis, Mandy Carter, and Surina Khan. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 6) THANK
YOU TO OUR FUNDERS! Thanks to the following organizations for their financial support: · Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice · Funding Exchange · · North Star Fund · The Paul Rapoport Foundation · · Stonewall Community Foundation and hundreds of individual donors. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 7) We Need Your Help - Donate to QEJ Or
you can pay by credit card on our Donate Now! page. Queers
for Economic Justice is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and your donations are tax-deductible. Previous
newsletters are located here.
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