The Ally Coalition

Hey, Allies!

The holiday season is the perfect time to step into allyship. Whether through volunteering at shelters or donating money, there’s so many ways to get involved.

However, some of us may not have the time to go out and volunteer, and some of us may want to know what this money is going towards directly. Some of us may just not know what organizations to give to this holiday season. So, we decided to make it easier for y’all through compiling a list of Amazon wishlists from some of our awesome partner organizations.

Lambert House - Amazon Wishlist

Lambert House is an incredible organization based in Seattle whose sole purpose is to give back to the LGBTQ+ community. They not only have a drop-in center and computer lab open to the public, they also have plenty of facilitated peer groups and educational activities. Be sure to check out their Amazon Wishlist, they have plenty of items listed like hair combs, q-tips, paper towels and films for their LGBTQ+ film Fridays.

New Alternatives - Amazon Wishlist

We’ve worked with the team over at New Alternatives for tons of projects, and we’re so impressed with their work and all they do for their community. They are an organization out to serve LGBTQ+ homeless youth in New York and provide them with crisis management tools, STI testing and prevention resources, case management for benefits, and so much more. You can help them out through their Amazon Wishlist with items like tuna salad with crackers, underwear, toothpaste and more.

Ruth Ellis Center - Amazon Wishlist

Pictured above are some amazing people at Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit putting together holiday care packages for LGBTQ+ youth. This is the type of work that they do as a safe space shelter for LGBTQ+ youth, with the sole purpose of helping them build positive futures for themselves. They help with medical matters through their health center, family preservation resources and even have a drop-in center available. Be sure to check out their Amazon Wishlist to help them out with books to stock their library for youth with, kitchen items or warm blankets.

Time Out Youth - Amazon Wishlist

As you can tell from the picture above, Time Out Youth has the mission statement to empower the youth of today to use their voice by recognizing the importance of it. This organization encourages this through activism in both political and social matters with their work in Charlotte, North Carolina and beyond. They hold plenty of advocacy events with keynote speakers and have tons of programs for LGBTQ-identifying youth to meet one-another. You can support them through their Amazon Wishlist by purchasing things like bean bags, USB chargers, and art supplies!

We hope this helps y’all and that you find time to send a gift or two to these amazing organizations and their people. We’re so thankful to have gotten to work with them over the years, as they’re amazing teams serving communities with a wonderful purpose.

Love,

Hey Allies,

This year has brought joy, tears, and joyful tears. Here at TAC, we want to kick off the holiday season right and start to bid adieu to 2018 by highlighting some amazing parts of the year. Here’s two cool articles that will hopefully put a big smile on your faces like they did for us —

There’s been so much LGBTQ+ representation in the Grammy nominations this year! We so hope that this is a pattern that’ll continue across award shows and years to come. Click HERE to read more about it.

This was #20GAYTEEN indeed. Check out THIS cool slideshow by Advocate to learn about some awesome people who came out this year!

Now, we just have to take a moment to congratulate our awesome partnered artists that have been nominated for some pretty darn cool awards this year and express our full support. Troye Sivan (GIF’d above!) is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song for a Motion Picture for his song Revelation for the incredible film Boy Erased, Sofi Tukker are nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Album for their latest album Treehouse and, last but certainly not least, our dearest founder Jack Antonoff is nominated for two Grammys (Best Rock Song and Best Alternative Music Album) with St. Vincent for their work on Masseducation, and he's also nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album for production with Pink’s Beautiful Trauma and Taylor Swift’s Reputation! Troye and Sofi Tukker are amazing artists with incredible teams we’ve been so thankful to work with this year.

We have so much fun on tour with them, and we’re massive fans of the art that they share with the world, so, we’re super excited to see them being recognized for that! And, of course, we wouldn’t be here without Jack—he continues to make his mark upon the music world like no other, just as he does with efforts to promote social justice awareness. We’re all so proud of you guys!

We have some cool blog posts coming up for the holiday season, so, be sure to follow us and stick around, friends.

Love,

It’s a very special edition of Ally Updates this week. We hope you had some wonderful time off with your families last week. 

If you haven’t heard, we’re having a Talent Show at Town Hall in New York City December 5th. Our featured talent this year is Hayley Kiyoko, Jacqueline Novak, Mitski, Regina Spektor, Rostam, Sasheer Zamata, Lana Del Rey and our incredible founders Andrew Dost, Jack Antonoff/Bleachers. The ever fashionable Rachel Antonoff is hosting! 

All ticket proceeds will be going towards our partner organizations so be sure to get your tickets here if you haven’t already.

To get you in the mood, check out some of our awesome performers’ music videos below:

Some final reminders about Talent Show:

If you’re coming, be sure to bring socks and feminine hygiene products with you! All donations will be given to New Alternatives in New York and several other nonprofit organizations

We’ve made ALL restroom open gender

Cora is curating each restroom with necessary products

There will be a raffle for tickets to The Tonight Show, Watch What Happens Live, and more!

You’ll find a surprise from Bombas Socks under your seat!

Some awesome special features will be available on Snapchat

You guys, we’re honestly so thrilled to get to do put this Talent Show on once again this year. We couldn’t do it without your endless support and the amazing artists’ participation! We’re so excited for this and we hope you are too.

See you at Talent Show,

The TAC Team

Hey Allies!

We wanted to give you a weekly recap on some cool things that have gone on this week in the world of TAC and beyond.

Transgender Awareness Week is an incredibly important week of the year in which we help raise awareness about issues faced by the trans community. This is important to do every day of the year, however, having a week devoted to speaking about these matters is crucial to educating one-another. You can learn more about it on @glaad’s website right here.

Transgender Day of Remembrance is coming up on November 20. It is a day where we remember transgender folx who lost their lives due to hate crimes. Be sure to learn more about it here and attend/organize a vigil if possible.

World Kindness Day was this Tuesday, and although it already passed, it’s never too late to do something kind for another (or your self). It’s a wonderful reason to bring a little light to the world. Click here to find out more about what you can do to make World Kindness Day every day. 

Be sure to check back next week for more weekly recaps and participate in any of the above if you can.

Election Day is tomorrow and the actions we take (or don’t take) in the next 24 hours will directly affect us for years to come.

Regardless of who you support you need to ensure your voice is heard.

If you need any information before casting your ballot, visit HeadCount.org/voting-info.

On HeadCount’s website, you can:

Look up your polling place

See what’s on your ballot

Verify your voter registration status

Find out what ID is needed

If you have any issues that may prevent you from making your voice heard, be sure to call 866-OUR-VOTE. 

Our friends at @headcountorg and all of us at TAC want to help make this election season as empowering and smooth as possible for all.

Love,