Pride Mutual Aid Project

 

Image description: three members of Portland Outright gathered at a recent mutual aid retreat. One person can be seen climbing along the wall on their hand and knees, one standing on top, and the third is standing in front looking out into the distance. The sun is shining and there are clouds in the sky, the ocean and a lighthouse are visible in the distance.

 
 

gift cards for LGBTQ+ youth in Maine

If you are in need of mutual aid, Outright is running a pride gift card give away! We will be giving out 400 twenty five dollar gift cards during June as a celebration of our joy and community!

The decision to distribute mutual aid funds in this way was imagined and designed by Portland Outright Members through a series of retreats in the winter of 2022-2023.

This project is possible thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donation of $10,000 from our community. Thank you for supporting our work!

Criteria for Outright Pride 2023 Mutual Aid

Because we can't give cards out to everyone, we have set some priorities as to who gets the first pick. If you do not receive a card, we will reach out with a reason why and some resources for more mutual aid options in Maine.

Each person that signs up will be given a $25.00 gift card, with a limit of 400 gift cards available for the first 400 people that sign up.

Our prioritized groups are:

  • Queer & Trans/GNC youth (ages 14 - 25)

  • Youths of Color (ages 14 - 25)

  • Low income folks

  • Folks affected by the prison system 

  • Disabled folks

  • Black and Indigenous communities

  • Marginalized religions

  • New Mainers (immigrants and refugees)

Important! This is only available to individuals living or attending school in Maine!

What is Mutual Aid?

Mutual aid is "collective coordination to meet each other's needs..." because "the systems we have in place are not going to meet them." (Dean Spade, Mutual Aid)

As a queer and trans organization, our history and movements are rooted in practices of direct support and community care. We take inspiration from the mutual aid networks of organizations like Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries (STAR), which organized and took in unhoused LGBTQ+ youth in New York City. At Outright, we see our work as a continuation of this legacy of mutual aid by:

  • Decreasing barriers to showing up in organizing spaces by providing food, transportation, and childcare

  • Working together on strategies and resources to meet each other's needs, such as food and housing, while actively organizing to transform the system that creates that shortage in the first place.

  • Our mutual aid work is not a charity program or a transactional experience. We share resources, skills, experience, knowledge and ideas without perpetuating relationships based on hierarchical power.

  • Centering joy, care, self-determination, and trust in all our practices. We share what we have abundantly, just as our ancestors have done for generations before us. We love our people and our actions should reflect that.

Does Portland Outright do Mutual Aid Projects at other times during the year?

YES! Portland Outright has always offered direct support to our members, their families, and the community around us. We’ve bought groceries, supported gender-affirming care, paid utilities, contributed to funeral expenses — if our people need it, we’ve always tried to fund it.

This year, as part of our Solidarity Member Drive (Outright’s monthly donors program), we are hoping to continue this practice by establishing a formal “Member Support Fund.”

Every dollar donated helps fund this continuous practice that allows our members to show up physically, mentally, emotionally, and especially politically. Your support helps to fund things like: bail funds, gender affirming care, housing assistance, food assistance, education support, health support, civic support, and more.

If you would like to support Outright’s ongoing mutual aid and community care work, please join us in becoming a Solidarity Member.