The Gay Gift Guide

Ahh, the holidays. A time for family gathering, drinking egg nog, and hemorrhaging money. Before you spend your last dime on a neti pot for Aunt Susan, we at gayrights.change.org would like you to consider the gift that keeps on giving, and fighting, for LGBT rights. With donations to LGBT organizations in a scary decline, there's no time like the present to put your money where your mouth is and donate to a worthy LGBT cause. Whether you're interested in the Marriage Equality battle, global LGBT issues, the next generation, or the greatest generation, we've put together a list of the organizations at the top of our list. If we've left off your favorite, it's not for lack of respect, just space. We hope this gives you some good ideas and we hope Aunt Susan enjoys her Marriage Equality T-Shirt.

Please remember, while the national organizations are fighting the mighty battle, sometimes the best place to start is right at home. Local Gay and Lesbian Centers, youth shelters, and food banks can always use your help, whether it's a gift donation or a few days of volunteering. You can find your local LGBT center here.

THE BIG GUNS:

• For a one-stop shopping holiday extravaganza, look no further than the Human Rights Campaign. You can make gift donations, pick up an HRC Snuggie, a super soft t-shirt, or a number of other awesome gifts, with 100% of the proceeds supporting the great work going on over there.They also have an amazing consumer resource, the Buying Guide, which ranks major corporations based on their commitment to, or discrimination against, the LGBT community. Borders: good; Walmart: bad. Bookmark it and use it all year long.
• The National Center for Lesbian Rights can always use support in fighting the LGBT legal battles (we have them to thank for the In re Marriage victory in California).
• Immigration Equality is a great place for those of you more globally minded. They provide legal services to LGBT and HIV positive foreign nationals and their loved ones, and run an asylum program for LGBTs escaping persecution in their countries of origin.

THE CHILDREN ARE OUR FUTURE

• With a third of the nation's homeless youth identifying as LGBT, a money donation, a day of volunteering, and/or food and clothing donated to your local center can make a huge difference in the life of an LGBT youth. The Ali Forney Center is the largest organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth. They also have an excellent list of LGBT homeless shelters across the nation. Bea Arthur left the Ali Forney Center a nice chunk of change in her will -- if it's good enough for Bea, it's good enough for you.
• The Point Foundation is an LGBT scholarship foundation that "provides financial support, mentoring, leadership training and hope to meritorious students who are marginalized due to sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression." Need we say more?
• The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is an outstanding program that educates teachers and students on how to provide a safe space for LGBTQ students both in school and in their community. If there's not a GLSEN chapter in your neighborhood, why not start one this year?
• LGBTQ youth have an alarmingly higher rate of suicide that their straight peers. The Trevor Project is a crisis and suicide prevention network aimed specifically at LGBTQ teens. It is the only 24-hour helpline available. They can always use volunteers, or a couple of bucks to keep the phone lines open.

OLDER AND WISER

• Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders (SAGE) provides a much needed service for housing LGBT elders and training those in elder care to be responsible and considerate in providing such services.

YOU GOTTA HAVE FAITH

• Faith in America is a righteous group intent on "ending the harm caused by faith-based bigotry." It is currently engaged in a media blitz in an effort to counter the lie-based gay marriage attack campaign. TV ads ain't cheap folks.
• If you need eight days of donation ideas, check out the folks at Nehirim, a national non-profit focused on community support and resources for LGBT Jews.

BUT IT'S NOT THE HOLIDAYS IF I DON'T GIVE A GIFT

• Some of the above listed charities also have stores where you can buy something tangible and support the cause. With those purchases you can bet that 100% of the purchase price goes right back to the charity. For those of you who need to scratch the shopping itch, might we suggest:
• The Rainbow Depot is gay owned and run and full of stuff you didn't even know you wanted. The "All I Want for Christmas is the Same Rights as You" T-Shirt pretty much sums it up.
• For those of you in NYC this holiday season, stop by the Marc Jacobs store on Bleeker and pick up an "I pay my taxes, I want my rights" T-Shirt. All $24 of the purchase price go to HRC.
• Love and Pride has a series of necklaces, each one designed with a different donation partner in mind. The donation partner gets 10% of the proceeds.
• For those of you traveling by air this holiday season (or anytime, really), taking an American Airlines flight could not only mean a comfortable journey, but also a chance to alleviate travel costs for employees of PFLAG.

We wish all of you a safe and happy holiday season. May you be surrounded by the people who love you and may the egg nog be plentiful.

Photo courtesy of kevindooley's Flickr photostream