Fundraising Update --Nearly There!

Hi everyone --

Just a quick update about fundraising, etc.

First, three of us were able to attend the general refugee planning meeting at the London Cross-Cultural Learner's Centre, which will be providing services to all refugees as well as being wholly responsible for Government Assisted Refugees (GARs -- Immigration loves its acronyms!). About 70$ of the refugees coming to London, Ontario, will be privately sponsored and various groups in the city, including our own, have raised well over $400,000 for this.

In addition, we have a meeting set up on Wednesday with the LGBTQ settlement officer at the CCLC to talk specifically about services available to LGBTQ refugees and, especially, ways of ensuring the safety and comfort of these refugees once they are here.

Now to fund-raising: our fund-raising drive continues, with multiple events in the planning process for the new year. If you are interested in volunteering to help with a karaoke night, a dance, a silent auction and/or have ideas of your own, please email  us at lgsrlondon@gmail.com.

As of December 15th, we have raised a total of $24,294.32 with an additional $2,150 pledged but not yet received (a very generous cheque for $2,000 is winging its way across the Atlantic right now). That brings us to a total of $26, 444.32. So we now have only approximately $555 left to raise to meet our initial fund-raising goal.

Watch this space for more updates as get closer to having our first refugee or couple arriving at Pearson International Airport!

Fundrasing update and call for volunteers

The Lesbians and Gays Support Refugees team and our partner organization and Sponsorship Agreement Holder, the Metropolitan Community Church, would like to express our deep gratitude to all who have so far contributed to our campaign to bring LGBT couples or a small LGBT family or a number of LGBT individuals to London as part of the larger refugee effort. We are very grateful and happy to be able to report that we have so far raised $23,392.36 toward our initial goal of $27,000. This means that we are now looking for our first refugee(s) to bring to London and will report back once we have the actual move here in hand. At that point, we may also be looking for volunteers with specific skills.

One thing we know we will need is someone who can help our refugee(s) with finances: budgeting, paying bills, setting up a bank account, applying for any appropriate benefits, loan repayments, and income taxes. If anyone feels confident in this area and would like to help out, please let me know.

Also, if you are still looking to donate, donations can be made by cash or cheque or online through Canada Helps.

 1) Cash -- bring us cash; if it's more than $10, give us your address and you will receive a tax receipt from the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) London.

 2) Cheque -- make your cheque out to MCC London and write 'LGSR' in the memo line; make sure your address is on the cheque or provided separately. Again, MCC London will provide a tax receipt for all donations over $10.

 3) Online -- working with our community partner Metropolitan Community Church London, we are pleased to announce we are now accepting online donations. Online donations can be made through MCC London at Canada Helps, mentioning LGSR in the "message" area on the form. After you donate online, a tax receipt will automatically be sent to your email account. Due to the percentage taken by Canada Helps of each donation, we are asking that, if possible, all donations of over $100 be submitted by cheque (or contact us by e-mail regarding Interac transfers).

Thanks again,
The LGSR Team

LGSR Presents "Pride"

What an incredible night! On Dec. 2 at 7pm, Lesbians and Gays Supports Refugees presented a free screening of Matthew Warchus's  film Pride. The film, based on true events, tells the story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM). LGSM was founded by a group of gays and lesbians in 1984 during the miners' strike in the United Kingdom under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The group, headed by Mark Ashton, sought to help raise funds to support the miners during their strike and protests against the Thatcher government. The group faced hostility from miners' homophobia as well as other members of the LGBT community who argued that LGSM should be helping lesbians and gays who were facing the AIDS epidemic. Ashton and LGSM, however, viewed the struggles as interrelated and therefore kept up the fight. The film depicts the courageous work of LGSM and the miners from a small community in Wales. The collaboration between LGSM and the miners would eventually lead to major victories for both workers' rights and LGBT rights in England.

The film is a fantastic depiction of what solidarity between (supposedly) opposing groups looks like and the changes it can bring. It is from LGSM and the film that our own group found inspiration to name ourselves Lesbians and Gays Support Refugees (LGSR). We have taken the principles of solidarity and recognizing the interlocking forms that oppression can take to guide our work to help raise money to sponsor LGBTQIA+ refugees from Syria and Iraq.  If you have not seen this film, go see it!

The members of LGSR are also thrilled to mention that after reaching out to LGSM in London, England, we received a statement of solidarity! The statement from LGSM reads as follows:

"It is truly heart-warming and inspiring to hear that in Canada Lesbians & Gays Support the Refugees are organising a screening of Pride to raise funds for, and awareness of, the plight of those driven from their own countries by conflict and war. Lesbians & Gays Support the Miners send our solidarity greetings to all those who attend the screening and urge you all to take the plight of those escaping conflict into your own workplaces, families, labour and community organisations  Where Governments turn a blind-eye, the citizens of the countries to which these people are fleeing must demand that refuge is provided. Together, we are strong."

We would like to thank LGSM for their continued support and inspiration.

The evening of the screening was a huge success! With a little over 30 people in attendance the room was filled with laughter and tears (both happy and sad). Not only was it an incredible night of learning the histories of LGBT activism and solidarity with workers, the night was also a success in fundraising . The generosity of those attending the screening was incredible. In one evening, we were able to raise a over $1,700 towards our sponsoring of LGBTQIA+ Syrian and Iraqi refugees!

We would like to thank all who attended and gave so generously. You are all helping to make the world a better place.  We look forward to seeing you at our future events. Keep a lookout on our blog and facebook page for upcoming events.

Thank you,

Lesbians and Gays Support Refugees

How to Donate to LGSR

Donations can be made by cash or cheque or online through Canada Helps.

 1) Cash -- bring us cash; if it's more than $10, give us your address and you will receive a tax receipt from the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) London.

 2) Cheque -- make your cheque out to MCC London and write 'LGSR' in the memo line; make sure your address is on the cheque or provided separately. Again, MCC London will provide a tax receipt for all donations over $10.

 3) Online -- working with our community partner Metropolitan Community Church London, we are pleased to announce we are now accepting online donations. Online donations can be made through MCC London at Canada Helps, mentioning LGSR in the "message" area on the form. After you donate online, a tax receipt will automatically be sent to your email account. Due to the percentage taken by Canada Helps of each donation, we are asking that, if possible, all donations of over $100 be submitted by cheque (or contact us by e-mail regarding Interac transfers).

 Currently, we have received $20,076. toward our initial goal of $27,000. Every donation counts!

The MCC Toronto is also registered with Citizenship and Immigration Canada as a SAH (Sponsorship Agreement Holder)  and has experience in helping settle refugees. LGSR looks forward to working with them in welcoming the refugees who we will be helping settle in London.

If you are unable to donate financially to this cause, please consider volunteering. Thank you for your support! If you have questions you can contact us at lgsrlondon@gmail.com or show up at our events and ask!

Free Screening of Pride - Dec 2, 2015

Lesbians and Gays Support Refugees is proud to present a FREE screening of the film Pride. This is a free screening, although LGSR will be collecting donations at the door before and after the show. Cheques can be made out to MCC London (that's the Metropolitan Community Church) and should have LGSR clearly marked in the subject line. The MCC will issue tax receipts for all donations of $10 or more. All donations will go towards sponsoring LGBTQIA+ Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

Date: December 2, 2015
Time: 7pm
Location: John Labatt Visual Arts Centre Room 100 at the University of Western Ontario
Map: http://www.uwo.ca/about/visit/maps.html

Based on a true story, Pride depicts a group of lesbian and gay activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners' strike in 1984, at the outset of what would become the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign. The National Union of Mineworkers was reluctant to accept the group's support due to the union's public relations' worries about being openly associated with a gay group, so the activists instead decided to take their donations directly to Onllwyn, a small mining village in Wales, resulting in an alliance between the two communities. The alliance was unlike any seen before and was ultimately successful.

Hope to see you there!

LGSR Team

Welcome to Lesbians and Gays Support Refugees (London, Ontario)

Welcome to Lesbians and Gays Support Refugees. We are located in London, Ontario, but everyone is welcome here.

Our name has been chosen as a homage to the historic Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. If you haven't seen the film Pride, you need to; you can also watch a documentary about LGSM here: https://vimeo.com/22972867. The name is not intended to be exclusionary -- indeed, all are welcome, including allies -- but to remember an important piece of our history and a time when we came together to help people who were suffering, no matter what their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

The current Syrian refugee crisis has highlighted refugee issues worldwide. We want to support refugees from places that are in crisis due to war or natural disaster (including climate change). We also want to support LGBTQ+ people who are fleeing persecution and intolerance in countries that are homophobic, biphobic, transphobic. To this end, we have partnered with the Metropolitan Community Church London to bring in as many LGBT refugees as we can. Our initial fundraising goal is $27,000 -- the amount that Immigration requires to sponsor a family of four. However, we are more likely to be sponsoring two couples or several individuals.

In practical terms, we hope this group will serve as an umbrella for local LGBTQ+ organizations or individuals who want to do something about the refugee situation. Whether you are organizing by yourself or in concert with an educational or religious organization, a business or community group, you are very welcome here!