ChelseaCommunityNews.com (CCNews) is an independent online newspaper providing news, arts, events, and opinion content to Manhattan’s Chelsea community and its adjacent areas. That free content is made possible by advertising revenue, grants, and voluntary reader donations. Click here to contribute to our GoFundMe campaign. 

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BY SCOTT STIFFLER | In a crowded field boasting no shortage of worthy candidates, this online publication’s crowdfunding resource of choice is, and has long been, GoFundMe.com (GFM). Our still-active GFM campaign was instrumental in helping Chelsea Community News (CCNews) raise much-needed seed money prior to our April 23, 2019 lunch, and has been a hassle-free fundraising tool ever since. We think they’re just swell. So now that we’ve done the “full disclosure” thing, we’re heaping upon them additional unabashed laurels, for an initiative highlighting LGBTQ+ causes.

Active during June’s Pride Month and beyond, GoFundMe’s Uplift LGBTQ+ Lives hub spotlights currently active campaigns using the GFM platform to fund “people, causes, and organizations that help the LGBTQ+ community thrive.”

Click here to browse fundraisers or click on focused sections including “Fund Gender-Affirming Care” and “Save LGBTQ+ Venues.”

“Since January 2024,” notes GFM, “we’ve seen more than 1,000 fundraisers created to help the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies – raising more than $1.2 million for Pride celebrations and related expenses… This Pride Month, independent queer creators are stepping up to keep the spirit of Pride alive even as sponsors scale back support of Heritage of Pride, the nonprofit that produces New York City’s official Pride events.”

Below are a few NYS-centric projects by creators asking for help through GoFundMe to bring their projects, which reflect queer culture and history.

Mercutio: A Musical Concept | This project reimagines Romeo & Juliet through a queer lens and a genre-blending score. Selected for PRIDEFEST at The Tank (312 W. 36th St.), the original work “centers queer identity and demands a stage of its own,” say GFM campaign creators Gregor Patti and Easton Michaels, whose fundraiser will help cover rehearsal space, stipends, and development costs. Note: As of this article’s publication, the remaining performance dates for Mercutio: A Musical Concept are Saturday, June 28 at 7pm and Sunday, June 29 at 9:30pm at The Tank (312 W. 36th St.). For tickets, click here.

SAVE the Pavilion Cottages: A Queer Historic LGBTQ Resort | This campaign was created to save and restore the Pavilion Cottages, a set of five historic Victorian townhomes in Sharon Springs, NY, into a resort and glampground for the LGBT+ community and its allies. The cottages, once part of a prominent 19th-century resort, have sat boarded up since 2004 and are now at risk of collapse due to a failing roof. Organizers plan to begin roof replacement in July following the town’s first-ever Pride celebration but need financial help to stabilize the structure before it’s too late.

Boutonnière, by Cael Sullivan, explores “the complexities of queer love and marriage on the eve of a gay wedding.” Staged at The Brooklyn Center For Theater Research (249 Huron St.), the fundraiser will help defray the costs of costumes, props, and promotion. As of this article’s publication, the remaining performance dates are Tuesday, June 24 at 7:30pm and Wednesday, June 25 at 6:30pm. For tickets, click here.

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