Pride and racial justice aren’t mutually exclusive.

The first Pride was the Stonewall Riots in New York in 1969 led by Black and Brown transgender women like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera amidst the civil-rights movement. Much of today’s milestones for gay rights is thanks to the efforts of queer BIPOC, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

This year, we’re excited to announce that our annual Pride fundraiser campaign will be supporting the LGBTQ Freedom Fund, an organization that assists with posting bail to secure the safety of LGBTQ people held in jail or immigrant detention in the U.S. According to the LGBTQ Freedom Fund, tens of thousands of LGBTQ people are imprisoned because they cannot afford bail, some reasons being immigration status or simply sleeping in public.

The LGBTQ Freedom Fund predominantly bails out Black and Brown LGBTQ individuals, working with them to ensure they get access to medical services. This includes free HIV Testing/education, access to PrEP/PEP, referrals to medical screenings, and hormone replacement therapy performed by medical professionals.

Pride Pins for the Greater Good

Starting today until the end of June, we’ll be launching our annual Pride fundraiser campaign featuring an exclusive Wumpus Pride pin.
The Pride pin showcases the Progress Pride Flag, original design by Daniel Quasar, which seeks to be more inclusive of the marginalized groups within the community.

Along with the traditional rainbow color scheme for the Pride flag, it includes black and brown stripes to represent marginalized BIPOC, along with the pink, light blue, and white colors to represent the Transgender Pride Flag.

The first 2700 people who donate at least $20 will be able to order a celebratory Wumpus Pride pin, with 100% of donation proceeds going to the LGBTQ Freedom Fund. We’re expecting the pins to start arriving in everyone’s hands in early August.

Whether it’s $20 for a pin or a $2 donation, every little bit helps. You can grab a pin by heading to our Tiltify page here.

Pride Doesn’t End After June

Even after our donation drive ends, that doesn’t mean the fight is over. The Freedom Fund works year-round to release LGBTQ+ and POC individuals from incarceration.

In addition, we’d like to showcase a handful of additional organizations that focus on LGBTQ+ communities of color:

The Marsha P. Johnson Institute: An organization protecting and defending the human rights of Black transgender people by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting collective power.
SNaPCo: An organization aimed at building the power of Black trans and queer people to force systemic divestment from the prison industrial complex and invest in community support.
The National Black Justice Coalition: A civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black LGBTQ people and people living with HIV/AIDS, with the mission of ending racism and stigma towards LGBTQ people.
The Black Trans Advocacy Coalition: A national organization led by Black trans people to collectively address the inequities faced in the Black transgender human experience.
Black AIDS Institute: An organization working to end the Black HIV epidemic through policy, advocacy, and high-quality direct HIV services.
The Okra Project: A collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black trans people by bringing home-cooked meals and resources to the community.

We encourage everyone to continue to organize at the local level, protest, and demand change. In addition, if you aren’t able to donate to our Tiltify campaign but still want to help out, you can spread the word by sharing the campaign link with anyone who may be interested.

We’re not done yet though! We’ll be back in a few days to give the spotlight to some Partnered LGBTQ servers that are celebrating Pride month.