These are perilous times for people who identify as LGBTQ. Twenty-three states have signed anti-LGBTQ bills into law so far in 2022. For people who identify as queer and trans, and especially for children and youth, discrimination is setting in motion an arc of intolerance that can cause depression, anxiety, and isolation from their families, schoolmates, and society at large.

How can we push back against the hate?  Join us to learn about the issues confronting the LGBTQ community.

Emmy and Peabody award-winning journalist/media creator and LGBTQ activist, Imara Jones, will set the stage for a lively discussion, Freedom to Be Queer: Overcoming Marginalization, Criminalization, and Erasure. Panelists include:

  • CHARLES KING, CEO, Housing Works, a community-based, not–for–profit that provides a full range of services for homeless men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic conditions.
  • CEYENNE DOROSHOW, performer, activist, community-based researcher, and Founder/Executive Director of G.L.I.T.S. (Gays & Lesbians Living In a Transgender Society), a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting the LGBTQIA community internationally.
  • JORGE MEMBRENO, Deputy Executive Director and clinical social worker, SMYAL, a charitable nonprofit that builds, sustains, and advocates for programs, policies, and services that LGBTQ youth need as they grow into adulthood.

The Resistance Revival Chorus will perform and help us celebrate openness, acceptance, and tolerance. The forum is free and open to the public.

The Forum will take place at the historic Riverside Church, an interdenominational, interracial, and international congregation in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. A focal point of global and national activism since its inception, The Riverside Church has a long history of social justice. This year marks the fourth time JusticeAid has partnered with The Riverside Church to host our public forum.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 11th, 7 PM, and join us at our Fall Benefit Concert, An Evening with Kandace Springs, at Washington, DC’s City Winery. All proceeds benefit JusticeAid 2022 grantee partner, SMYAL.

Our Fall 2022 public forum, Erasure: The Otherization of Queerness, will take place in partnership with The Riverside Church of New York on Sunday, September 18, at 4 PM. Details coming soon. Hoping to see you then!

JusticeAid leverages the community-building power of art and music to transform awareness into action in the fight against injustice. Each year we identify and raise funds for justice causes by hosting music, arts, and educational events. Since 2013 JusticeAid has granted more than 1.7 million dollars to nonprofits working to ensure access to justice for the disenfranchised and marginalized. Our grantee partners are fighting racist voter suppression and racist policing, working to end mass incarceration and inhumane immigration practices, ensuring access to legal services, and addressing the criminalization and hatred of others.