The LGBTQ community is incredibly diverse. We represent a rainbow of ethnicities and religious beliefs. You can find us in every social class and every corner of the world – even the ones where leaders pretend we don’t exist. Yes, the long and ever-evolving acronym that represents us tells the story of our differences. But it also tells the story of people who want to be proud of who we are and who we love. And it reminds us that we are stronger together. Where would we be without these organizations that help unite us, that protect those of us in need, and that celebrate our ability to create and lift each other up. These are ten organizations we love.
For a limited time, you can vote for one of these organizations to receive a monetary donation from Metrosource and be celebrated with a place on our annual list of People We Love. Voting is free and also makes you eligible to win tickets to our exclusive People We Love Gala in New York City. Please do your part for our community and vote today.
Ali Forney Center
Ali Forney Center seeks to shelter LGBTQ youth from homelessness and empowers them with the tools to live independently. The organization’s namesake, Ali Forney, was a gender-nonconforming teen who fled his home at 13. He entered the foster care system where he was bounced from home to home, beaten and abused. Don’t our kids deserve better?
Callen-Lorde
Callen-Lorde provides quality compassionate health care with a variety of services targeted to New York’s LGBTQ communities — regardless of ability to pay.
GMCLA & NYCGMC
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles and the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus may each be anchored on opposite ends of the country. But they share similar goals in staging musical experiences that address queer themes and creating events that bring us together in song. They’re also extraordinary ambassadors of our community’s commitment to excellence in the performing arts.
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The Alliance for Positive Change
The Alliance for Positive Change helps New Yorkers living with HIV and other chronic illness access medical care, manage addiction, get back to work and find community. What’s more, the Alliance lends a hand in peer support and helping thousands of locals find the housing assistance they need to achieve health, happiness and stability.
Bienestar
Bienestar was founded in 1989 as a non-profit social service organization with a singular mission: to positively impacting the health and well being of the Latino community and other underserved communities in Southern California.
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PFLAG
PFLAG is the first and largest organization for LGBTQ people, their families and straight allies. With more than 400 chapters and 200,000 members and supporters in cities across the U.S., PFLAG seeks to create a world where diversity is celebrated, inclusivity rules, and all people are respected, valued and affirmed.
Point Foundation
Point Foundation promotes change through scholarship funding, mentoring, leadership development and community service training for LGBTQ young people. The foundation bills itself as the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for deserving students. Point empowers promising LGBTQ school kids to achieve their full academic and leadership potential – despite the obstacles often put before them – and hopes to prepare them to make their own positive mark on society.
GLSEN
Shouldn’t every school kid be valued and treated with respect regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression? GLSN is dedicated to making that goal a reality. They believe that students everywhere deserve a safe and affirming school environment where they can learn and grow.
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LGBTQ Victory Fund & LGBTQ Victory Institute
LGBTQ Victory Fund & LGBTQ Victory Institute are the only national organizations dedicated to training, supporting and electing LGBTQ people to public office. Victory Institute’s four-day Candidate & Campaign Trainings have helped thousands learn how to run for office. Among their success stories: Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia and Virginia Delegate Danica Roem. Victory also provides internships and fellowships on Capitol Hill for young LGBTQ leaders interested in public service, and runs the only national network of LGBTQ elected officials, with more than 750 members.
GLAAD
GLAAD is watching over what we watch. As a media monitor, its leaders address current cultural events as they happen to ensure fair and diverse LGBTQ representation in print, on screens and the internet. As an organization, they seek to safeguard the community’s advances while pushing for a world rooted in mutual respect and equality for all.
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Last modified: November 7, 2019
