End-of-year Support Spurs Growth in 2024

"I had to inform my employer that I would have to break the law if I traveled to Florida for work. As a trans man, I could be charged with a misdemeanor for using the men's bathroom in public buildings."

“As a nonbinary person who works in a public-facing job, I have been harassed and undermined by people in my community because of my identity.”

“Yes, we have marriage equality, but I still had to legally adopt my own child that was birthed by my wife to ensure that all of our rights will be protected.”

Dear SpeakOUT Supporter,

When SpeakOUT visits a school or library, a workplace or a faith community, our speakers share perspectives like the ones above from their daily lives of being an LGBTQ+ person living in the world today. We provide a face and a name for our listeners to understand the personal effects of discrimination and oppressive laws, and illustrate how even inMassachusetts the current political climate seeps into our lives. 

Often our audience members thank us for being brave for sharing personal details about our lives and for answering a range of provocative questions. Sometimes we do feel brave, but oftentimes many of us feel it is just what wehave to do to make a difference in our communities. SpeakOUT knows that many LGBTQ+ people cannot publicly tell their own stories and it is important for us to amplify the voices of those who can speak to combat the hateful rhetoric that is being used against us. It is more important than ever before to energize LGBTQ+ community members and allies to take up space in the world, not to retreat and silence ourselves.

We continue to share our truths within in-person engagements as well as online presentations that reach far beyond greater Boston. We speak to any audience that is looking to create safer and more inclusive spaces for the LGBTQ+ community. After a recent visit to a faith community near Boston, they shared this reaction with us:

“Each of the speakers shared from their heart about who they are and how they identify. They also offered key insights from their journey that helped us understand what has been helpful and harmful in personal, professional, and familial relationships. They shared that they were open to any questions. The night felt transformational and gave many of our members insights that we’re still grateful for and reflecting upon. Thank you for all you’re doing, SpeakOUT Boston, it was very helpful and demystifying!”

When we receive these testimonials from our clients, it confirms for us that our personal approach is affecting change within those spaces. These moments of insight and connection are truly making a difference in our communities and your continued help and support is critical for us to keep doing this important work. 

Over the last two years, SpeakOUT has been enhancing our programs by doing both in-person and online presentations for a wide variety of audiences. We spoke to an AARP group of LGBTQ+ seniors in South Dakota as well as a group of seniors in Brighton, Massachusetts. We spoke to LGBTQ+ youth at a summer camp on Cape Cod, to executives at Amazon, and to doctors in training at Harvard Medical School, as well as many, many others.

We try to reach as many audiences as we can and we want to reach even more. Which means enlarging our staff to help expand our efforts. Did you know we only have one paid staff member? Yup, that’s me. Our goal for 2024 is to bring on a second staff member so that we can boost our capacity to reach more people and to do more work behind the scenes to ensure SpeakOUT’s sustainability—and we hope you can help us achieve that goal!

We are looking ahead to 2024 with a strong commitment to strengthening our ability to educate audiences about our community. We know that LGBTQ+ people will continue to be targeted by conservative forces across this country and our fight for equality will only get harder in the run-up to the general election. The success of our end-of-year campaign will impact our internal growth as well as the number of audiences we will be able to reach. 

Your generosity today makes a meaningful difference in what we will be able to accomplish next year. Please use our QR code to make an online donation today. SpeakOUT has shared the personal stories of our community for over 50 years and your support will help us take that remarkable legacy to a new level in the coming year.

In Pride, 

Ellyn Ruthstrom 

Executive Director

P.S. For donors who give $100 or more, we’ll send you a black progress flag baseball cap for you to wear with pride in the new year!

Appreciation Night Remarks by the Executive Director, Ellyn Ruthstrom

On June 27, SpeakOUT gathered at Club Cafe in Boston for its annual Appreciation Night event. Along with thanking SpeakOUT's wonderful speakers for all their work, we also awarded our three LGBTQ+ Student Scholarships, thanked long-term board member George Grattan for his nine years of service, and introduced our new mission statement. SpeakOUT's Executive Director, Ellyn Ruthstrom, opened the program with these remarks.

I had the opportunity to start the month, our high holidays, by speaking at the Melrose Flag Raising Ceremony, which is where I live. Last year they had had an entire ceremony that did not include a single LGBTQ+ person so I was determined that didn’t happen again. Along with talking about how my own relationship to Pride has evolved over the years, I also talked about what makes SpeakOUT so worthwhile, and I believe the power of our work is in what motivates YOU to speak out.

SpeakOUT board members and speakers gathered on the Club Cafe stage for a group photo.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a speaker say, “It would have made such a difference to me if I had had a queer speaker come into my school or town or business.” Our work educates the general public but it also offers hope to many LGBTQ+ people along their journey, especially our youth who get to see positive role models of adult queer people and to hear how they encountered challenges and overcame barriers and discrimination. They get to imagine that there is a place for themselves in the world. Amplifying LGBTQ+ voices is—especially right now–so important! Our work fights back against the divisiveness and the distorted stereotypes and misinformation that is being spread about our community. 

Sadly, I now have to discuss a security plan with all of our clients who we organize public events with, mostly public libraries and community groups. Those plans usually involve either having police on site or asking them to be on alert in case anyone causes trouble at the event. I honestly never thought I would have to do that.

Within each generation since Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ community has fought for -- and won -- more rights, more visibility, and more inclusion within American society. We’ve had tremendous success, and now we are in the midst of a severe backlash that is targeting our queer youth, our queer families, and in particular our transgender siblings. And again, I never imagined we would be here.

SpeakOUT board members and Executive Director Ellyn Ruthstrom at Appreciation Night at Club Cafe.

But one thing that has changed a great deal within the last few decades is that the LGBTQ+ community does not stand alone. We have tremendous allies who stand with us when we fight back and I believe the work we do with SpeakOUT is building those connections with allies one zoom event or one library group at a time. And that will make all the difference as we work to turn the tide again towards embracing MORE rights rather than fewer rights for all of us. And as queer people it is also our responsibility to be allies to others who are fighting for racial and economic justice, including fighting back against voter suppression. “None of us are free until all of us are free.” And I certainly believe that.

Just as our own LGBTQ+ movement has evolved over time to be more inclusive, SpeakOUT has also grown and evolved over the course of our five decades. Most recently, the board of directors has voted to revise our mission statement and I want to introduce the new statement to you this evening. 

SpeakOUT is a community of speakers and volunteers working to create a world free of bias and prejudice by telling the truths of LGBTQ+ lives.

I want to thank the board of directors for their work on revising and updating our mission statement and for all the work they have done over the last year, including helping to organize our SpeakOUT50 event last October.