Meet 10 LGBTQ+ Organizations Receiving PIOW Community Grants

Originally started in 1985 as the East Coast Bisexual Network, the organization incorporated in 1989 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit and changed its name to the Bisexual Resource Center in the mid-nineties. Since its inception, the Bisexual Resource Center has been creating resources, providing support, and helping to create a stronger sense of community for bi/pan/fluid people across the U.S. and beyond. As one of its first actions, the BRC published the Bisexual Resource Guide from 1990 through 2002 and helped to connect organizations and individuals around the world from Argentina to Zambia.

As the oldest nationally-focused bisexual organization in the U.S., the BRC continues to raise awareness and build bridges within the LGBT and ally communities, and fosters bi-supportive social and political space wherever it can.

As an affiliate Boston group, the Boston Bisexual Women’s Network was founded in 1983 out of a women’s support group called the BiVocals. BBWN is heading towards 30 years of being an active and ever-changing support network for the Boston area. BBWN publishes a quarterly newsletter, Bi Women Quarterly, that is read worldwide.

Additionally, the Boston Bisexual Men’s Network formed soon after the women’s group and provided support to hundreds of men in the Boston area for over 15 years.

As a brand new nonprofit organization founded in Boston 2020 we support the development of strong, sustainable, LGBTQIA+ community functions. We are committed to uplifting & sharing connections with creative entrepreneurs and social justice programs to sustain and advocate for a safe comfortable support system for LGBTQIA+ and gender non-conforming youth of color.

We stand on the following principles:

Commitment: Boston Lesbigay Urban Foundation is committed to creating safe spaces, inspiring long lasting relationships, bringing medical and mental health awareness, uplifting voices, and instilling a sense of hope in the future for our black/brown/latinx LGBTQIA+ inner city community.

Possibility: Boston Lesbigay Urban Foundation wants to expand the perspectives of our community and make them aware of life’s possibilities and resources.

​Support: Individuals are dramatically influenced by their support system. Boston Lesbigay Urban Foundation wants to bring together men and women who identify as black/brown/latinx LGBTQIA+, in a caring, safe, inclusive environment.

The Boston LGBTQ+ Museum of Art, History & Culture is a new organization, founded in 2020.

While we work with key partner organizations and art institutions, and foster partnerships for temporary exhibits and projects, we envision a physical space in the city of Boston combined with an innovative digital platform that will foster an inclusive community that is safe for Boston queer artists to exhibit their artworks and showcase their talents through exhibitions, public programming, and special events.

In the years to come, when The Boston LGBTQ+ Museum acquires a permanent space, we will host a permanent exhibit that will tell the history of the LGBTQ+ movement in Boston and Massachusetts, and we will present temporary exhibits as well.

We are excited to grow into a leading art institution encompassing a variety of art forms, from performance, to pop, contemporary, and modern art including but not limited to fine arts, visual, conceptual, and abstract.

SpeakOUT’s roots trace back to 1972, when members of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Homophile Union of Boston (some of the earliest gay rights organizations) joined forces to create the Gay Speakers Bureau. Since then, the organization’s name has evolved to emphasize our primary service and to reflect the rich diversity of the LGBTQIA community, including bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual people. 

Today, our membership includes more than 100 speakers who represent a broad range of ages, backgrounds, experiences, and sexual and gender identities. We continue to diversify our membership further by reaching out to communities of color and other underrepresented voices.

Every LGBTQIA person is an individual, so no two speakers will say quite the same things. We celebrate the unique perspectives of all of our varied speakers and work to present a cross-section of views, experiences, and identities in each of our community engagements.

TCNE has offered transgender social activities and support since the 1970’s, we are one of the oldest transgender groups in the world and one of very few with our own permanent location.

TCNE seeks to provide confidential, respectful and safe in-person meetups so that members can be who they are as they best feel comfortable doing. Members and visitors can express their true gender in the way most comfortable for them. Services include:

• A social support network to provide transgender men and women with peer based social support.
• A place for spouses and partners to express their feelings and gain support from people in similar circumstances
• Opportunities for education regarding, Gender Dysphoria, transexuality, living bi-gender, crossdressing, transitioning, being transfeminine or transmasculine, and many other topics that are important to transgender people.
• Social activities for fun.
• Opportunities for members to help and serve others in the Greater Boston community as themselves through volunteering and assisting to organize and present various educational and social activities.
• Referral services to therapists and other professionals trained in gender dysphoria issues, crossdressing, transgender, transexual and related issues.
• Connection to other social and support organizations helping to support transgender persons in New England and throughout the United States.

Trans Resistance was formed in June 2020 by Athena Vaughn, Chastity Bowick, and a collective of trans and queer activists in the Boston area who built upon years of contention with the Boston Pride board for being trans-exclusionary in their process, vision, and work and failing to equitably represent the magical TQBIPOC community in Boston. 

We started in 2006, growing out of a project begun at the Smith College Social Work Program. For many years we existed as an informal network of volunteers co-creating programs for trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive youth and families. Since that time we have served hundreds of families across Western Massachusetts through peer-to-peer family groups, mentoring, counseling, and access to resources and advice.

We are, and always will be, for and by our community of trans, nonbinary, gender expansive, gender creative, and gender fabulous people, alongside our allies.

In 1975, Fantasia Fair was conceived by Ariadne Kane and others in Boston’s Cherrystones support group in response to a need for a safe space for crossdressers and transsexuals to gather. “There is a tremendous need for crossdressers and transsexuals to learn about themselves in an open, socially tolerant environment,” said original co-founder Betsy Shaw. “We wanted to have a program that can help us grow in practical, social, and educational ways,” said another founder, Linda Franklin.

Provincetown was picked as the host city because of its reputation for tolerance and because it was a center of gay and lesbian culture. Its location at the very end of Cape Cod provided isolation and therefore peace of mind for frightened first-timers. Besides, the mid-October date was after P’Town’s tourist season had ended and before the town shut down, when prices were low–and so a date was set.

In some ways, the character of the Fair has changed little over the years—there is still the same warmth and camaraderie. In other ways, it has blossomed into something larger and more important than was originally envisioned.

We empower the LGBTQ+ community by providing opportunities and resource through the art of drag. We are a Boston based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and serve communities far and wide. Founded by Scottie Gage, our incredible team of volunteers identify as gay, straight, queer, non-binary and everything in between.

Scottie Gage had a natural flair for drag from a very young age. Adopted into a racially blended family in Truro, Massachusetts, Scottie found himself gravitating towards his sisters’ closets by the time he was six years old. “I would sneak in to snip off little pieces of their fanciest dresses and use the material to adorn my Star Wars action figures,” Scottie reminisces. Eventually, his Mom caught on and started taking him to the fabric store. Scottie knew then, as he does now, that he was blessed with something many are not; parents who fully supported him living as his most authentic self.

To this end, Scottie founded Verna Felton, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting LGBTQ+ youth with one-of-a-kind drag performance costumes. It is a place to donate beloved drag costumes and gowns, money, and time to the LGBTQ+ community.