The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc. held a grants dispersal ceremony on Sept. 27 at Café Flore. Grants Chairnun Sister Dionna Cross and Sister Sarah Femme emceed the event, speaking a few sentences about each beneficiary. The money was raised from collecting donations at the leather fair gates. Last year The Sisters raised approximately $100,000, according to Sister Dionna. This year they gave out over $15,000 to a variety of organizations.
The recipients and their purpose follow here: Holy Order of the Epicene: a disorganization that facilitates connection, ritual, and documentation of the spirituality of all people who identify as living outside of the polarized gender spectrum. At the very heart of the largest most unique leather event on earth you will find the women of Folsom Street Fair, frolicking in the tantalizing Venus’ Playground. Women come from all over the world in their corsets and stilettos, or combat boots, and of course leather. Care Through Touch Institute considers itself to be one of many vital social service agencies in the Tenderloin. They strive to work in collaboration with those who provide food, shelter, and healthcare to homeless and marginalized people.
San Francisco Women Against Rape provides resources, support, advocacy, and education to strengthen the work of all individuals and communities in San Francisco that are responding to, healing from, and struggling to end sexual violence. SFWAR is a women of color led, volunteer-based organization that has provided rape crisis services to survivors of sexual assault for over 30 years.
Wielding thighs of steel and a thirst for competition, the Bay Area Derby (BAD) Girls are a full contact, all female, flat-track roller derby league consisting of three teams: The San Francisco ShEvil Dead, The Oakland Outlaws, and The Richmond Wrecking Belles. The B.A.D. Girls pursue a mission to provide amateur athletic entertainment, and to skate competitively on a regional and national level. The Castro Country Club provides a safe and sober space for people to meet as an alternative to bars where alcohol is served. In addition, the club provides a space for regular AA, NA, and CMA meetings. Openhouse is a nonprofit advocate for LGBT older adults with housing challenges. They provide support services and actively advocate for inclusive and nondiscriminatory housing and basic needs to enable LGBT seniors to live with dignity. Precarious Theatre’s mission is to produce theatre that has relevance to audiences in the here and now. They seek to create theatre that attracts newcomers to the art form, and to create a performance experience that challenges expectations of what is known as traditional theatre.
Harm Reduction Coalition is a grassroots national advocacy and capacity-building organization that promotes the health and dignity of individuals and communities impacted by drug use. This includes education, HIV, and hepatitis C support. The Derek Silva Community provides permanent housing for low-income HIV+ individuals with other disabling physical and or mental health issues. The Sister grant will contribute to the purchase of healthy food and vitamins. Family Arts Bridge (FAB) offers a fabulous “FAB Camp,” providing a residential arts-based family camp experience for families with LGTBQ members, their friends, and supporters. Groucho: A Queer Loca is a mixed-race, butch-femme, Latina vaudevillian screwball comedy play that will be at Theatre Rhinoceros in November. The play seeks to heal the wounds of racism, transphobia, homophobia, and misogyny through comedic political satire and the wit of humanity. Catherine’s House of the Earth Abides Land Trust is dedicated to charitable services and specifically alleviating the human toll caused by HIV/AIDS. It has provided a beautiful retreat space and nourishing environment for over 1000 guests since its inception. Nomenus, an organization of gay men organized as a religious nonprofit, exists to create, preserve, and manage places of cultural and spiritual sanctuary for radical faeries and their friends. The Sister grant will help them in their vision of eco-sustainability.
The Outlet Program is a youth empowerment program serving LGBTQ teenagers in Silicon Valley. As the only comprehensive program of its kind in the area, it has offered support, education, a sense of community, and served as a roll model for more than 10,000 queer youth since 1997. The Stanislaus PRIDE center in Modesto is a nonprofit formed in 2005 to provide resources that support the LGTBQ in Stanislaus County. The Sister grant will help fund their counseling program. Realworld Personal Defense is an organization that was started to help at risk kids in the Bay Area using martial arts. The Sister grant will help fund their Gargoyle Project, which offers longer term support and essentially an extended family to foster children. The Rainbow World Fund is a volunteer humanitarian service agency based in the LGBTQ community. It works much like the Red Cross, providing needed assistance, food, medicine, and supplies to those around the world who suffer from hunger, disease, oppression, and Republicans. For three decades the Children’s Art Center has provided a safe environment for children from about 2 to 13 years old to express their creativity as well as develop basic skills to prepare them for kindergarten and school. The grant will enable scholarships for those unable to pay out of their pocket. Free Activist Witchcamp is a gathering of political activists, witches, and earth lovers that come together yearly to rejuvenate, connect, and do ritual and healing. The Inter Faith Work Group has a two part goal of supporting transgender folks in their faith journeys, while also providing useful resources to help people of faith to become better educated trans-allies. Camp lavender Hill offers a week-long summer camp for children ages 9-14 of LGBTQ families. Its goal is to create a loving, safe, and supportive environment for children of alternative families.
The next grants distribution will be during Saturnalia, and organizations are welcomed to apply for funds. Check out TheSisters.org for information.
