Red Envelope Giving Circle 
Red Envelope Giving Circle

 

   The Legacy of Giving 

 

 


Red Envelope Giving Circle
(REGC) is committed to
creating positive social change

in the Greater San Francisco

Bay Area through philanthropic support to Asian and Pacific Islander LGBTQ-led projects
to improve the lives of
API LGBTQ people and

communities.

Testimonials

Here are some tetimonials from our grantees:
API Family Pride

The history of the film whose update the Red Envelope Giving Circle is partially funding is the history of API Family Pride. It starts in 1994 when a group of people wanted to organize an Asian Pacific Islander component to the PFLAG conference held in San Francisco. No parents of API LGBTs came forward to participate and when one pair of parents finally did, they came on condition that at least one other pair of parents should come. Activist API LGBTs discovered something then, namely, that PFLAG’s model for support—public disclosure—is contrary to the API value that frowns on public disclosure of private shame. They hit upon the idea to make a film that API families with LGBT children could watch and discuss in the privacy of their home. 

The film was a success and those who made it discovered a need much larger than anticipated. They formed an organization dedicated to API families with LGBT children. Today API Family Pride is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) organization with a mission statement, values and beliefs, a website, and a Facebook page. Our programs and activities have but one purpose: We keep together API families with LGBT children.

 

The Impact of “Giving Circles” on Our Organization
The cost of making a film astounds us: about $1000 per minute of finished product. We will have to raise much more money through foundation grants and corporate philanthropy. But nothing will quite match the fulfillment we experienced when told that the Red Envelope Giving Circle awarded us $2900. They are our friends, they are our community; we go to their events, they come to ours; we call them when we need help, they call us for what we offer. Their gift to start our project is an affirmation of our work by people who were there at our birth. They are “next door,” and they told us that we are still valued partners.
Dragon Fruit Project
We’re so honored that the Red Envelope Giving Circle is funding the Dragon Fruit Project. Our goal is to preserve the history of Asian Pacific Islander queer women and transgender activist from the 1960s to the 1980s. At the moment no archive actively collects materials from queer Asian elders. This project in collaboration with the GLBT Historical Society aims to remind activists approaching their 70s that their lives are worth recording and empowers community members to preserve stories that others have deemed insignificant or unspeakable. We are collecting twenty oral histories and holding at-home archiving seminars so that elders can preserve and catalog their own materials before they decide to deposit it in an archive. 

The amazing part of collecting these oral histories is how the activists consistently defer to one another on their tremendous work and commitment. It’s inspiring to witness this form of everyday activism where people just roll out of bed and think about what task however small or large they can do to create an inclusive, and empowering space where people can embrace being queer and API all at once. There’s no waiting for community to come to you. If they experienced alienation in the white lesbian community or the straight API community they just up and took action to make their lives better. The Dragon Fruit Project is in the midst of researching other potential exhibit locations so that we can bring API queer women and transgender history to other cities as well.
Willy Wilkinson's Thank you!
A video testimoial from Willy Wilkinson, REGC's Grantee 2015
Alexander Lee
A thank you short video from Alex Lee.
Queer Rabels: Spirit

REGC's support of Queer Rebels has been invaluable. REGC has helped make our show, SPIRIT: A Century of Queer Asian Activism, possible. While foundations change priorities, REGC has stepped in to support vital projects in the Queer Asian Pacific Islander community. Speaking as a small fiscally sponsored project, the $2500 we received makes all the difference in being able to pay for venue, provide honorariums and travel stipends, pay for publicity materials, and more. Asian Pacific Islanders are 33-35% of the SF Bay population, yet we only receive less than .02% of 1% given to LGBT organizations. That is the lowest of the low! REGC's funding allows us to showcase visionary Queer Asian American artists - from slam champion Regie Cabico to Visibility project founder Mia Nakano, to Lambda Literary award winner Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha - and that's just the short list! More than 20 Queer Asian Artists and Activists will converge in San Francisco to reflect on our legacies and envision our future. This vital and vibrant event celebrating our QAPI community is made possible by REGC's invaluable support.


About Queer Rebels: Established in late 2008, Queer Rebels is a critically acclaimed Queer People of Color arts organization. Our mission is to showcase queer artists of color, connect generations, and honor our histories with art for the future. www.queerrebels.com  www.facebook.com/QRProductions