Can You Spare $5?

Well, if you do, I've got a suggestion on how to spend it. Actually, Bear Bergman has a suggestion:

Last month, someone told me I was her hero. I had gone to her small college and performed, and afterwards her classmates had begun to speak positively about queer and trans folks. For the first time, she felt she could come out - and did.

Organizations and institutions that are queer- and trans-inclusive have the resources to invite me to participate in their conversations. The places where the administration is intolerant, where the culture is conservative, or where our issues are not given priority end up starving for it.

I am dedicated to meeting that need. I am committed to taking education, awareness, openness, and the great joy of my outlaw tribe wherever anyone will have me. I go where I'm asked, whenever I'm able, and perform or teach or lecture for free. I love it.

Here's the problem - I can't always go. Even when I can work for free, I can't travel for free (and I can rarely afford to pay for it myself). So sometimes I have to say no, and I really don't want to.

Here's the solution - be a hero with me. If you can spare just $5 per month, over the course of a year you can help me work with hundreds of students. This is completely tax-deductible…

Okay, so this is something that's close to my heart. One of the things I enjoyed most being part of the gay-straight alliance at university was organizing speakers to come to campus. Bear is one of those people who dedicate their lives to such endeavors, which can often be disappointing-looking affairs with half a dozen attendees, and yet mean a whole heck of a lot to those half a dozen people. I learned a lot and met incredibly interesting people this way…memories of Justin Chin, who scandalized Loyola with his slide show of butthole art, and Greg Louganis, who charmed everyone, naturally. (Somewhere, I have a picture of me with him; he's handsome and compact!) Anyway, if you do have $5 a month to spare, this would be a good place to send it.

Thanks to Peggy Sue for the heads-up.