help me make a difference.
As a member of the LGBTQ Community and a proud Chicagoan, it’s important to me personally and professionally to give back to my community.
Brave Space Alliance is black lead, trans lead non-profit organization serving the south and west side of Chicago. They are the first organization of their kind located on the south side, meeting needs that were previously unmet due to many organizations being based closer to the north side and therefore being inaccessible geographically to this part of our community.
I first heard of Brave Space Alliance in March 2022 while at a drag brunch at The Walnut Room in Chicago. My friends and I ended up giving an impromptu performance, and every dollar we made was donated to the organization. I knew right away that this was an organization I needed to continue to show my support to.
When I first came out at 25 years old, I was immediately pushed back into the closet. Being raised in a very religious community, the closet was not an unfamiliar place for me.
But love is for EVERYONE and closets are for CLOTHES——not people.
I will be collecting donations via Paypal and sending on to BRAVE SPACE ALLIANCE. If you are interested in contributing, you can donate below!
Make a donation TO BSA
Brave Space Alliance is dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals on the South and West sides of the city. We strive to empower, embolden, and educate each other through mutual aid, knowledge-sharing, and the creation of community-sourced resources as we build toward the liberation of all oppressed peoples.
All of BSA’s programs, services, and resources utilize a mutual aid framework. Mutual aid understands that systems and institutions can’t and won’t sustain us, but WE can. BIPOC communities and community members have everything they need to sustain themselves when given the same access to resources and skills needed to ensure they create a life of their choosing.
We’re an LGBTQ+ center that serves the entire community but we prioritize BIPOC transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) individuals because they are most marginalized and vulnerable of the LGBTQ+ community. Most programs, services, and resources geared towards BIPOC TGNC individuals provide temporary solutions that do not address the root of their problems.
As BIPOC individuals of trans experience, we believe that we are the experts on our lived experiences and can better identify our needs which is why all programming, services, and resource provided by BSA give community members an active hand in development and implementation.