A-LISTS community spotlight
Frankly My Dear… I Give a Damn!
WITH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREGORY LEWIS OF THE TRUE COLORS FUND
by bill biss
Three years ago, Gregory Lewis began working with Cyndi Lauper. She was in the
midst of her True Colors tour at the time. He then helped to create The True Colors Fund two years ago. In his role as Executive Director, he launched the “Give a Damn” campaign in April of this year and came up with the slogan. Cyndi Lauper was the inspiration for that slogan. For anyone who has not felt the impact of the campaign, it is a national outreach for awareness for those who have been victims of hate crimes, our LGBT youth who couldn’t take the stigma of being gay and committed suicide and several other important issues which affect all gay and straight human beings. By giving a damn, Lewis truly believes that communication and raising awareness will help those who are less tolerant begin to really believe that a person’s sexuality should not make them less deserving of all basic human rights. Gregory Lewis explains the long-term goals of the organization and what The True
Colors Fund has accomplished so far. “The True Colors Fund has grown very organically over the last two years. It grew out of the success of The True Colors tour, which took place in 2007 and 2008. Through the tour and The True Colors Fund, over $200,000 dol- lars was raised for LGBT organizations around the country. That’s the genesis of how the fund started.” Those who attended The True Colors tour gave an overwhelming response to Lau-
per’s vision immediately. Lewis explains, “Seeing the amazing and immense crowds we had in the audience…how enthusiastic they were. Not only for the music and the comedy but really for the message of equality that we were talking about. We realized that we could have an impact year round. We decided that we wanted to focus on areas we felt, we could have an important impact. Those two areas are encouraging straight people and those who haven’t given LGBT equality a thought before, to support LGBT equality. The other area is helping homeless LGBT youth. It is an issue in our community that is woefully under-addressed. It is a fast-growing and never-ending problem.”
The “Give a Damn” campaign was launched as a vehicle to encourage straight people
to learn about the various issues impacting the community and give them ways to get involved. Continuing Lewis says, “It was also created as an avenue for LGBT people to use as a vehicle to reach out to the straight people in their lives and start that conversa- tion. A conversation that they may have not had yet or didn’t know how to have. To really explain what their lives are like and why these issues are important. Why the equality of the LGBT people should matter to them as straight people.” Countless entertainers in all fields have contributed freely to promote the “Give a Damn” campaign. It is a true reflection of breaking down the barriers of prejudice. Gregory Lewis is very proud of those who have come forth to donate their time and spread the message of the campaign. “We’ve been very fortunate in that people have stepped up and supported this campaign in such amazing ways. Everybody is so touched and enthusiastic about being a part of it. I think it shows through the mes- sages that they are saying in all the videos. It’s been highly effective. From the moment we started, it has resonated with people in a way that we hoped. In seven months, we have almost 70,000 people who have joined our website and almost 100,000 people on Facebook. We haven’t spent any money on advertising. This is done online via viral marketing and word of mouth.” With the spread of hate crimes and the unfortunate loss of LGBT youth committing
suicide, Lewis gets to the heart of the matter. “The campaign was able to direct people to organizations like The Trevor Project, who are really doing the work on a daily basis to address those issues. Really…that is what the “Give a Damn” campaign is all about. It’s about highlighting those organizations and educating people that these groups are ones that they should support. There are so many large and vital organizations in our community. That’s our hope to direct people to those organizations.” Please go to
Wegiveadamn.org to learn more.
14
RAGE monthly | DECEMBER 2010
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