What if your favorite local café, bookstore, or boutique could transform into more than just a business, but a haven of acceptance and safety for the LGBTQ+ community? Welcome to our enlightening exploration of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI), a powerful movement partnering with Yeagermeister to create safe spaces in smaller cities and rural communities. We'll guide you through the fascinating journey, highlighting the significant efforts of the four co-owners of the Stonewall Inn, while stressing the importance of allies in the LGBTQ+ movement.
Ever wondered what it takes for a business to earn the SIGBI Safe Spaces certification? We break down the intricacies of this process, detailing the required training, donations, and the establishment of gender-neutral bathrooms. We also shine a spotlight on the vibrant queer history, including the iconic Cosmopolitan drink, a symbol of pride within the LGBTQ+ community. As we conclude, you'll gain a deeper understanding of the vital role played by SIGBI, particularly in places often overlooked by mainstream media. So join us, as we engage in this vibrant conversation on LGBTQ+ safety, acceptance, and history.
What if your favorite local café, bookstore, or boutique could transform into more than just a business, but a haven of acceptance and safety for the LGBTQ+ community? Welcome to our enlightening exploration of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI), a powerful movement partnering with Yeagermeister to create safe spaces in smaller cities and rural communities. We'll guide you through the fascinating journey, highlighting the significant efforts of the four co-owners of the Stonewall Inn, while stressing the importance of allies in the LGBTQ+ movement.
Ever wondered what it takes for a business to earn the SIGBI Safe Spaces certification? We break down the intricacies of this process, detailing the required training, donations, and the establishment of gender-neutral bathrooms. We also shine a spotlight on the vibrant queer history, including the iconic Cosmopolitan drink, a symbol of pride within the LGBTQ+ community. As we conclude, you'll gain a deeper understanding of the vital role played by SIGBI, particularly in places often overlooked by mainstream media. So join us, as we engage in this vibrant conversation on LGBTQ+ safety, acceptance, and history.
We're about to talk about the Stonewall Inn Gives Back initiative. The Stonewall Inn Gives Back initiative, abbreviated as SIGBI, is the official non-profit of the Stonewall Inn, which is one of the original LGBTQ communities safe spaces and is widely considered the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ plus rights movement. And today we're going to be talking about this initiative, but mainly the safe spaces certification portion of the organization. The SIGBI Safe Spaces certification identifies entertainment venues, food and beverage locations, stores, businesses and other public venues as safe spaces for LGBTQ plus members of the community, working toward a world where coming out is always a celebration.
Speaker 2:
I love that. I also love the acronym, like SIGBI. That's so cute. It reminds me of one of those like little sidekicks in an animated movie that like isn't quite an animal and isn't quite, it's kind of like an amorphic blob with eyes.
Speaker 1:
I can appreciate that. Actually, when I first looked at it, my type A mind was like is that a soft G sound or hard G Like? Is that SIGBI or SIGBI?
Speaker 2:
Yes. So another really cool thing about SIGBI is it's run in partnership with Yeagermeister, which, however you feel about the flavor of Yeagermeister personally it's not my favorite I just absolutely love that because I feel like there is such a rich history when it comes to LGBTQ people and celebration and drinking responsibly, not in excess, things of that nature. Of course, if you feel like you need help, please go get help, but I love seeing these liquor companies continue that legacy of standing by our side and spreading positivity and love and acceptance throughout the country. I just think that's a really, really cool thing, even everywhere, from absolute vodka all the way back in the 60s to Yeagermeister today it's very cool to see.
Speaker 1:
Yeagermeister, along with other alcoholic beverages, as support and partnership also for the LGBTQ plus community. The list is getting longer, which is awesome, because not that we promote drinking, but just the fact that we're promoting celebration of this community is awesome.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, let's come together and celebrate. That's such a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1:
One goal of the initiative and partnership is to find and or create the first SIGBI Safe Spaces logo which we now have to use at all the certified safe spaces across the country. This logo is placed in a business that went through the certification process, which we're going to unpack here in a little bit, but it's to let members of the LGBTQ plus community know that that business has went through the proper steps to become a safe space for the LGBTQ plus people.
Speaker 2:
Not even just as places to go as patrons, but also as places to go as employees, as places to go to work at. If you are LGBTQ, specifically if you're trans, and you run into the issue of preferred names, preferred pronouns, preferred bathrooms, I know from experience. I vividly remember having a job for one day, and one day only, because at the end of that day I told them I was trans and they never called me back. It's something that happens all the time. It's really nice to know that now there is a place where businesses can register and have to prove that they are going to be safe places to go and give your money to, but also go and work for.
Speaker 1:
The woman who spearheaded this initiative. Her name is Stacy Lentz. She currently serves as the CEO of the Stonewall Gives Back Initiative. She's one of four total co-owners of the Stonewall Inn. The three other business partners are Kurt Kelly, bill Morgan and Tony DeSico, and they all have their personal stories being faced with difficulties of growing up in a small town or being queer you know fate being faced with their respective times and cultures Respectively, and they all have their own personal reason and testimony as to why they're so passionate about SIGB.
Speaker 2:
That's incredible. That's just. That's absolutely incredible, and even like the hearing that it's a combination of not just queer people but also allies that have come together to say we're let's do this together, because without allies we're going to drown. We need our allies. Our allies needed to be there, they needed to be loud and it's nice to see some loud, proud, good allies just right up there.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely so. In 2017, they wanted to formalize SIGB to give back to an even greater capacity, so they decided the four to form their own nonprofit to make sure they were utilizing the money in all ways that went Back to the grassroots organizations and activists all over the globe. Part of their mission and their reason for putting SIGB together is to amplify voices and, at the same time, make sure they're giving back to the community. Sigb is also a wonderful philanthropic organization when they and I quote from their website provide educational, strategic and financial assistance to grassroots organizations committed to advocacy for and crucial support to LGBTQ plus individuals and communities living in smaller cities and rural communities Beyond America's major metropolitan areas and that is so important because I mean, we know, I Mean you've been into to Branchville area, milford area, like there, sussex County, new Jersey, sussex County I Grew up there.
Speaker 2:
It's there was, there was nothing, there was nothing. We had a GSA at the high school, that's it, like that those were. That was the only place where you were just so safe to just be. Other than that. It was like online, you know. So it's really nice to see a genuine effort to push that into beyond just the metropolitan Gabor hoods that have always you know that have been since the 60s and even beyond that. These hubs of queer life, like the queer people, exist beyond the hubs and it's nice to see that kind of brought it out. Finally, and and their philanthropic efforts are just so, so beautiful, so amazing to read about and so vast. Yeah, oh my god, there's so many, so so many.
Speaker 1:
I was shocked, actually, because you don't really hear these type of things in news outlets, right? They're not super publicized unless you're actively researching it, right? And the more I researched for this episode, the more I went down a rabbit hole of finding other organizations and companies that were in partnership with them and I'm like, oh, jetblue. Okay, now I know I can schedule my flights with them now.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it allows you to function happier and safer in the world around you, as yourself, with your partner, with your family, without having to worry about being discriminated against or, worse, being hate crimes Like that. These are real things, unfortunately, and it's so cool, like even like they've teamed up with LA Pride to raise funds for prides all over the country, because, I mean, there's the major prides, but there's also a bunch of tinier ones that don't really get the light that they also deserve, and it's really cool to see Stonewall shining the light on them, being like, hey, there's also these.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, Like they've issued $65, $1,000 grants to LGBTQ plus nightlife workers that were recently affected by the pandemic. I was going to say pandemic but valid. The Black Trans Travel Fund.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, they also funded the Black Trans Travel Fund, which is so, so cool to see. Honestly, did not even know that something like that existed, but that is incredible to see and please utilize that, because it is extraordinarily dangerous for trans women of color across the country.
Speaker 1:
So they've also worked with an organization called Just Us, which is a youth organization made up of lots of trans and gender non-conforming people in the state of Tennessee.
Speaker 2:
I love that, and the Rainbow Borderlands Center, which helps undocumented LGBTQ people in El Paso, texas, which is amazing because we know how many specifically trans people are trying to come here for safety. It's really nice to see them getting some help, especially since I know, as of recently, queer people claiming asylum was not very easy. It was a bit. The process was made far more difficult for them. So it's nice to see that there are people who are helping.
Speaker 1:
They're also working together with the New York Yankees, with the Yankees Stonewall Scholars Initiative, which celebrates the achievement of New York City Public School graduating seniors who have demonstrated academic achievement, a commitment to equality and impactful support for the LGBTQ plus community.
Speaker 2:
They've also worked with many of the organizations that have been helping to stand against the 600 plus bills that have been introduced over the past year, year and a half, to states all across the country that have been anti-LGBTQ, because without corporations putting their money where their mouth is, we're not going to get anywhere.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and they've also co-hosted events with the Radical Hearts Collective, which focuses on performance art in conjunction with activism, and it's led by and focused on Black and Brown trans women, aka the children of Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera's what they call trans sisters, which I love. Fantastic, it is.
Speaker 2:
That is absolutely wonderful and great. So it's so cool because Stonewall was an original safe space. Stonewall was kind of one of the first safe spaces, at least like a recognized safe space. Of course there were pockets of underground areas, different gatherings, bars, things like that that were safe for queer people, but Stonewall was really the major one that we all still know of today. I mean, at this point it's a national monument. So it's really cool to see the present day owners look at that legacy and recognize the weight of it and needing to continue that legacy of not just still being a safe space but creating more safe spaces. We all just want to be safe and happy and feel loved and feel like we belong and like we are accepted. That is the human condition right there. So it's really nice to see people coming together and recognizing that and just doing their best to provide it.
Speaker 1:
And with that, a survey conducted by CIGBE uncovered that 89% of the LGBTQ plus community believe that most spaces are not aware that LGBTQ plus people feel unsafe and 97% believe that the LGBTQ plus community would benefit from more safe spaces. I like the fact that they did their market research because it definitely shows that there is a need for more safe spaces. It gives you more of an insight into the psyche and minds of people when they enter into different businesses or when they're in public spaces or when they're looking for employment, how they're feeling on the inside in terms of level of safety.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, and even how that affects things like your ability to enjoy yourself in your environment, your ability to enjoy what you're eating or your ability to perform at work. People don't realize how much of the way we interact with the world around us is affected by a sense of unsafety, by a sense of unwellness. It affects every single aspect of our functioning. It's considered one of the pillars, like we've all seen it, the pyramid, the human hierarchy of needs. That's the bottom, that's your number one is a feeling of safety.
Speaker 1:
It does put a person in fight or flight more often than they should be. So Stacy Lentz, the CEO of SIGB. She says safe spaces uplift LGBTQ plus people by providing a place to celebrate, educate, thrive, work, shop, relax and live freely. And I just love that quote because live freely I mean, what a way to end such a bold statement Like can you imagine living freely? It just boggles my mind a little bit because I am constantly thinking about oh, I'm wearing a rainbow bracelet. Is this the environment that I should wear that in? Am I a target? What kind of attention is that going to draw? Is that okay? Is it okay for people to know? Is it going to hinder one of my professional relationships, or am I going to lose patience over it in the office? That live freely part. I mean, it's just such a declaration at the end of such a bold statement and I love that so much because that is really what it's all about Queer joy is celebration and it is. It's about living freely and I'm just like, wow, what a beautiful concept.
Speaker 2:
It is wild to think about like that, but absolutely you do not have that safety. The rest of that hierarchy of needs is not going to get met, and that includes things like psychological connection, you know, like feeling like you have a community and a sense of belonging and things like that. None of that can happen without a sense of safety. You need that bottom pillar.
Speaker 1:
So in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, basic needs is at the bottom of the pyramid and I'm just going to say as a chiropractor, if you're in constant fight or flight, that is sympathetic tone, and so your nervous system, your general tone of your body is going to be what people generally tend to refer to as somebody who is, you know, all the time they're wound up because they have a higher nervous tone.
Speaker 1:
It's just not good because it encourages disease processes unnecessarily and too quickly for people's respective ages. Like you said, it's just not a place to live on a regular basis. But I love their website also says we look forward to working with nonprofit grassroots organizations like yours who are committed to helping LGBTQ plus people throughout the United States lead happy and out lives, and I love that because I really can envision a world where all business owners get to a place where you know we don't have to do this anymore. You know, like I know, we're not there yet and we may never be like in our lifetime, but the vision is that's where we're headed and you have to keep momentum in that direction.
Speaker 2:
And you got to keep that hope alive, that dream of like we can one day get there. We can get to the point where we don't necessarily need safe spaces, because queer people just feel safe everywhere.
Speaker 1:
Yep. So there are 10 steps in the process to certify business for a safe space logo through SIGBE, the Stonewall Gifts Back Initiative. Number one is the training. There's two 15-minute SIGBE facilitated training sessions that create a foundational understanding of LGBT people and the importance of safe spaces. It just equips you with the appropriate training.
Speaker 2:
Frontline education, Say. The next is to donate. They want you to donate. They want you to give back to the LGBTQ community. Again, put your money where your mouth is. Make sure that you're participating in mutual aid and purchasing from queer businesses and things of that nature.
Speaker 1:
The third thing is the code of conduct. So, rather than implying LGBT employees and customers with dignity and respect, there must be a concrete expectation within their code of conduct, something that is clearly stated and communicated with shareholders on every level. To the staff Everybody has to be congruent with their languaging and just everybody has to be on the same page.
Speaker 2:
I love the fact that it's not implied. It has to be directly in their code of conduct that LGBTQ people be treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else, and it's nice to hear that it has to be in order for you to be a registered safe space.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, you go through the effort of creating and disseminating an employee handbook. It's easy to add it to the handbook 100% yes.
Speaker 2:
And then next up is gender neutral bathroom on site.
Speaker 1:
I went to a performance. I saw the West Village Corral. They are home to the Judson Church on McDougal and on every floor they have all gender bathrooms, everybody and anybody who's going in and out of these bathrooms, and there were two stalls right next to each other. You can tell that maybe previously they used to be men's and women's and they just put all gender on both of them. So people are just going in and out of both of them and it was just so refreshing and so nice.
Speaker 1:
I love that it was amazing, so just giving them a shout out.
Speaker 2:
I was at a concert and there were two bathrooms. They were across from each other and they weren't labeled. They were just like painted, and one of them was painted with a lot of blue and the other was painted with a lot of pink and red. People just organized themselves like literally by color. They went oh pink, okay, oh blue. There were no urinals, everything was a stall. It was no difference.
Speaker 1:
When you solve one problem, sometimes other problems just pop up as a result of the change. It's so strange. So number five is ongoing support. So, outside of donations and outside of just Pride Month, they want to make sure that your business will be showing active support for the LGBTQ plus community on a year round basis.
Speaker 2:
Next up, we got policies and procedures. You have to implement policies and procedures that demand an inclusive and diverse workspace, ensuring equal hiring and promotion ability for every employee.
Speaker 1:
Number seven is pronouns. Every safe space is expected to communicate the importance of using someone's proper pronouns and, further to that, actually using them.
Speaker 2:
Anti-LGBTQ partners. Safe spaces must not engage with anti-LGBTQ partners, including those with discriminatory policies or have a recent history of working against LGBTQ equity.
Speaker 1:
Stonewall pulled Bud Light from circulation in their bar for that very reason, so it was like you can't have both. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
Speaker 2:
And they all said a thing happened with Dylan Mulvaney, where they partnered with her and they claimed themselves to be a safe brand to partner with, only to leave her high and dry when she started getting death threats and their stocks went down. So that's another reason that Stonewall probably was like, yeah, no, you can't do that, because they just did nothing. They literally just left her high and dry.
Speaker 1:
That was literally the most pivotal, most important time for them to stand their ground and let everybody know what they stand for. They could have potentially won the hearts of the LGBTQ plus community and reverse their stocks if they had stayed steadfast in their decisions. But it's just to say you can't have your cake and eat it too. So that's part of the certification is that if you are going to in being safe space certified, then just be sure that when push comes to shove, you are able to stand for something Absolutely. And with that number nine anti-LGBT lawmakers you cannot vote for anti-LGBT lawmakers. Safe spaces must not donate to these politicians. And to support that, the last step, step number 10, is the recertification process. Safe spaces must be open to accountability and demonstrate that they are committed to safe space requirements by recertifying every year.
Speaker 2:
I mean not even just Bud Light. Throughout history there's been many instances of corporations just using us, just realizing oh, that's a wallet, I haven't tapped quite enough yet, and then backing away when the going gets tough. It's nice to see SIGB saying that that is not going to fly with the businesses that they allow under their umbrella.
Speaker 1:
So, with that, if you want to support SIGB and or the Stonewall Inn, which you know they're one and the same. The Stonewall Inn has their annual Brick Awards gala. It's scheduled for December 4th at 6pm and it goes until 9pm. This is honoring LGBTQ plus leaders from all over the globe who continue the Stonewall Inn legacy of activism. There's going to be a hosted bar, light bites, thrilling performances and a live auction, and there's a limited number of early bird tickets that have been on sale since Friday, october 13th. Being that there's a limited number of seats, if you guys should go on and get your tickets, you can go on to StonewallInInitiativeorg for further information or for any of the information on the Safe Spaces certification process.
Speaker 2:
Yes, and if you have a business and you're interested in being registered as a Safe Space, do it. Go for it. Take the jump. It's worth it. I promise you We'll love you.
Speaker 1:
All right, Kate, do you want to end with our queer fun fact for the day?
Speaker 2:
Yes, I would love to. So, speaking of alcohol, the Cosmopolitan, which is fun fact, actually a drink I've never actually gotten to try. It's considered a queer drink. It's a favorite among many gay men and it was believed to have been started in bars in Provincetown, which I mean, you know, provincetown is extraordinarily flamboyant, just like by nature. It's considered one of the many old gayber hoods. So P-town, p-town. See, the next time you go to a bar and you're feeling like you want to show a little bit of extra pride, order yourself a Cosmopolitan. You'll be doing our gay ancestors a favor, because in the 70s that was their thing. Thanks for sharing that, kate, of course. Stay safe, stay queer.