Tag: Ali Forney Center

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Madonna Spends Thanksgiving With Homeless LGBT Teens

Outstanding.

The Queen of Pop herself, Madonna, spent her Thanksgiving with homeless LGBT youth of the Ali Forney Center in New York City.

The Ali Forney Center is the largest and most comprehensive organization in the nation dedicated to housing LGBT youth.

AFC serves youth aged 16-24, and provides emergency and transitional housing, street outreach, a drop-in center, medical and mental health treatment, a vocational/educational program, and a counseling project for the families of LGBT youth.

Earlier this year, I interviewed Carl Siciliano, founder and executive director of The Ali Forney Center. An awesome and inspiring man who walks the walk when it comes to helping people. Take a listen to my interview here.

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Ali Forney Center’s Carl Siciliano Interviewed On “The Daily Show”

The Daily Show‘s Jessica Williams sat down with virulently homophobic pastor James David Manning of Atlah Worldwide Church, and yes, kids, he’s still crazy as ever.

Additionally, Williams chats with Ali Forney Center handsome Executive Director Carl Siciliano, who’s currently raising funds to buy the property, which is up for auction due to around $1 million in debt.

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Radio Show: Carl Siciliano Of The Ali Forney Center Talks Homeless LGBT Youth

Carl Siciliano, founder/Executive Director of The Ali Forney Center

With the Ali Forney Center‘s funding raising effort continuing in hopes of purchasing the anti-gay ATLAH Church in Harlem, I wanted to share my radio show interview with founder and Executive Director Carl Siciliano.

I’m really proud of this interview from my companion  radio show – The Randy Report on BlogTalkRadio.

Carl Siciliano talks with me about the current #HarlemNoHate Campaign which aims to raise funds to help the Center purchase a church in Harlem to expand it’s services for homeless LGBT youth.

The poetic irony is that the pastor of the church, Rev. James Manning, has spent years spewing vitriolic hate speech towards the LGBT community in Harlem.

Pastor Manning is notorious for signage at the church with messages such as “Jesus would stone homos” and that all supporters of LGBT people should be cursed with cancer, HIV, madness, and eternal damnation.

“The biggest reason our youths are driven from their homes is because of homophobic and transphobic religious beliefs of their parents. If we are able to obtain the space it would truly be a triumph of love over hatred,” says Siciliano.

The church is being put up for auction due to unpaid bills and tax liens on February 24th. The goal of the #HarlemNoHate campaign is to purchase the church and make what was once a place that put religious-based hate on broad display, and turn it into a safe haven for young LGBT.

The Ali Forney Center is the largest and most comprehensive organization in the nation dedicated to housing LGBT youth. AFC serves youth aged 16-24, and provides emergency and transitional housing, street outreach, a drop-in center, medical and mental health treatment, a vocational/educational program, and a counseling project for the families of LGBT youth.

Listen as we talk about the difficulties homeless LGBT youth face and how you can help.

You can donate to the #HarlemNoHate campaign by clicking here.

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Ali Forney Center: Foreclosure Auction For Hate Church In Harlem On Hold

The auction of the anti-gay ATLAH church in Harlem, scheduled for February 24, has been put on hold temporarily via restraining order from the New York State Supreme Court.

As regular readers know, the Ali Forney Center – the largest, most comprehensive organization that addresses the needs of LGBT homeless youth – has been raising money to try and buy the church at auction and turn it into a center for those youth in crisis.

Via press release:

“This development gives us more time to research the conditions of the ATLAH building and assemble the most advantageous financial package possible prior to making a bid for the building at auction” said Carl Siciliano, Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center. “While we are excited at the possibility of acquiring the building at auction, we were anxious at needing to rush quickly into this process. The temporary restraining order allows us time to gain more knowledge and strengthen our position.”

Subsequent to learning that the ATLAH church building had been foreclosed due to over $1 Million in debts and scheduled to be auctioned, AFC launched the #HarlemNoHate campaign. Since January 29th, the campaign has resulted in $315K in donations towards a building acquisition fund. AFC has committed to use those funds to attempt to acquire the ATLAH site at auction in order to provide housing and vocational support to homeless LGBT youth, or to acquire another site for those purposes if unable to obtain the ATLAH site.

You can still contribute to the fundraising effort by clicking here.

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NYC: Ali Forney Center Raises $200K To Purchase Anti-Gay Harlem Church

Via press release:

Less than two weeks after the ATLAH church, home of virulently anti-LGBT Rev. James David Manning, announced it had been foreclosed and was being put up for auction, the Ali Forney Center launched the #harlemnohate campaign and has raised $200,000 as an initial goal towards buying the building to provide housing for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) homeless youth in Harlem.

“It has been an extraordinary two weeks,” said Carl Siciliano, Executive Director and Founder of the Ali Forney Center. “We have been overwhelmed with support and encouragement and now have the opportunity to turn a place that has promoted hatred and violence into a safe space for LGBT homeless youth,” continued Siciliano.

“Ali Forney, who inspired the founding of the organization, was murdered in Harlem in 1997, only 12 blocks from ATLAH. In 2013 Islan Nettles was beaten to death in Harlem only one mile from ATLAH. Could there be a more just outcome to the ATLAH foreclosure than that the young LGBT people most endangered by the hatred and contempt Manning promotes would take over his building?” said Siciliano.

“AFC’s acquiring the beautiful and historic building that now stands as a symbol of hate would be extraordinary, but the bottom line is this: the Ali Forney Center has 200 youths per night on the waiting list for our beds. As an organization, we have no obligation more urgent than to increase our capacity to provide housing to these vulnerable youth. With the support of the Harlem community, those who have contributed and many others offering to help, we approach the February 24th auction with confidence and hope. Given the real estate market in Harlem we anticipate the bidding will go significantly higher than the $1.02M owed and we are in discussion with potential developers and investors to acquire the building and we anticipate having a partner by the time of the auction. We will continue fundraising through the #HarlemNoHate campaign and make every effort to be in as strong a position as possible to acquire the building,” concluded Siciliano.

To contribute to the campaign, supporters can go to http://harlemnohate.org

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Anti-Gay Harlem Church Could Become A Haven For Homeless LGBT Youth

A Harlem church, which has become a symbol of hate and homophobia, may present an opportunity to be repurposed as a haven for homeless LGBT youth.

Via Huffington Post:

A New York state judge has ordered the ATLAH World Missionary Church to be sold at a public foreclosure auction, according to court records cited by DNAinfo New York. The church, which has been known to display messages like “Jesus would stone homos” and “Obama has released the homo demons on the black man” on its billboard, has reportedly amassed debts and tax liens totaling more than $1.02 million.

The Harlem church could prove to be a commodity in Manhattan’s cutthroat real estate market. But the Ali Forney Center, an advocacy group dedicated to homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens and young adults, hopes that an online fundraiser will help raise $200,000 to secure the property as housing for its clients.

Carl Siciliano, who is the Ali Forney Center’s founder and executive director, said in a press release that repurposing the church to house homeless LGBT youth would “truly be a triumph of love over hatred.”

“The biggest reason our youths are driven from their homes is because of homophobic and transphobic religious beliefs of their parents,” he said. “Because of this, it has been horrifying for us to have our youths exposed to Manning’s messages inciting hatred and violence against our community. It has meant the world to us that so many Harlem residents have stood up to support our young people, and are now urging us to provide urgently needed care at the site of so much hatred.”

LGBT rights activist Scott Wooledge, who is working with the Ali Forney Center to raise the funds to buy the church and has raised over $200,000 for homeless youth over the past two years, echoed those sentiments.

“We, as a community, have a golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn what was once a center of appalling hate into a home where our youth can be safe, nurtured, supported and thrive into self-sufficient adults,” he told The Huffington Post in an email. “Let’s seize the day, and turn the page on an ugly chapter in Harlem’s history.”

Siciliano has announced that should the Ali Forney Center not able to obtain the building, any funds raised will be utilized to increase its housing and vocational services for homeless LGBT youth in another site.

This is a wonderful chance to do something really beautiful. Please consider donating here.

You can follow the fundraising goals here.

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Ali Forney Center’s Annual Benefit Dinner – October 24, 2014

This year’s Annual Benefit Dinner for The Ali Forney Center will be held on October 24, 2014, at Capitale in New York City.

The evening includes a cocktail reception, an extensive silent auction, live auction, performances by Lea DeLaria and Daniel J. Watts and more.

The mission of the Ali Forney Center is to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth from the harm of homelessness, and to support them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood.

However, this work cannot be done alone. The Center needs your help and support to make NYC a safer place for homeless LGBT youth.

This is one of the Center’s biggest fund-raising events of the year. If in NYC, please consider attending; or if not able to attend, perhaps make a donation or donate something for the silent auction.

For ticket info, click here.

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Accidental Bear Queer Music Summer Tour benefitting LGBTQ organizations

Tickets for the July 2013 Accidental Bear Queer Music Summer Tour Benefit For LGBTQ Mental Health Services & Suicide Prevention with Logan Lynn, Big Dipper, Conquistador, Darling Gunsel, and Rica Shay are on sale now.

The tour is presented by AccidentalBear.com and will be hitting San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, and New York City, with more cities in the works for later this year and early next.

100% of the proceeds from the A.B. Queer Music Tour go to Ali Forney Center (NYC), Pride Foundation (Seattle), Q Center (PDX), LA Gay & Lesbian Center, and Stonewall Project (SF).

The mission of the tour is to bring awareness and visibility to LGBTQ music while working to diminish the stigma around mental health and raise money for suicide prevention efforts in each of the communities where the tour is taking place.

Help Accidental Bear support the missions of all the organization benefitting by purchasing your ticket to the Queer Music Summer Tour today and come have a great time for a great cause this July!

Tour Dates & Cities:

7/5 – Beatbox, San Francisco, CA – Tickets

7/7 – Los Globos, Los Angeles, CA – Tickets

7/11 – Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR – Tickets

7/14 – Chop Suey, Seattle, WA – Tickets

7/19 – Webster Hall, New York City, NY – Tickets

Ticket pricing info for all 5 benefit shows:
$15 – G.A. (General Admission)

$45 – G.A.+ (General Admission + Tour T-Shirt + Photo with Bands)

$75 – V.I.P (General Admission Ticket + Invited to meet and greet w/ bands at pre-show VIP reception, Tour T-Shirt and Photo with bands)

Watch videos by all the bands playing the tour at the following:
Logan Lynn
Big Dipper
Conquistador
Darling Gunsel
Rica Shay

What? You like FREE stuff?

Well, Accidental Bear has released a FREE digital 13 song compilation album called “AB // XO” with songs from the bands headlining the tour, which is available at AccidentalBear.Bandcamp.com – Download yours today for zero dollars and get excited about the shows this summer!

Find out more about the deserving beneficiaries of the fundraising:
San Francisco – The Stonewall Project
Los Angeles – LA Gay & Lesbian Center Mental Health Services
Portland – Q Center

Seattle – Pride Foundation – LGBTQ Community Foundation
New York City – Ali Forney Center

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NYC: 7th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant

Hey NYC – don’t miss the 7th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant this coming Monday, May 20th, to benefit the very deserving Ali Forney Center.

The Broadway Beauty Pageant will feature male cast members representing their respective Broadway shows, competing for the title crown through talent, interview and swimsuit competitions. The contestants will go head to head in front of a panel of celebrity judges, but ultimately, the final vote is in the hands of the audience members.

This year’s event will be hosted by Tovah Feldshuh, and the fab celeb judges are Broadway favorites Billy Porter (KINKY BOOTS), Andrea Martin (PIPPIN) and Michael Urie (HOW TO SUCCEED…).

The mission of the Ali Forney Center is to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth from the harm of homelessness, and to support them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood. Find out more about the Center by clicking here.

Click here for tickets to the event.