Get Involved

These Dallas charities are making an impact in the LGBTQ community

DIFFA/Dallas hosts multiple events throughout the season.

Dallas boasts a vibrant community of volunteers dedicated to empowering, protecting, and supporting LGBTQ residents.

CultureMap's new Dallas Charity Guide, presented in partnership with Frost's Opt for Optimism campaign, is a one-stop resource for locals looking for ways to give back — including to the LGBTQ community. Each month, we are shining a spotlight on charities making a difference and telling stories that showcase the insightful and innovative ways local charities are shaping our community.

Here’s a look at Dallas LGBTQ-affiliated organizations making an impact, and how you can to get involved, volunteer, and donate to support them.

AIDS Services of Dallas
Mission: The mission of AIDS Service of Dallas (ASD) is to create and strengthen healthy communities through the delivery of quality, affordable, service-enriched housing for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS. ASD's mission includes advocacy, education, and the development of affordable housing options and community development opportunities, both for its residents living with HIV/AIDS, and for economically disadvantaged people.
How to get involved: There are a variety of ways to get involved with ASD, including volunteering for the ASD Supper Club — a program that provides ASD residents with hot, nutritious meals every night — and helping to stock ASD's grooming supply closet by organizing a grooming supply drive. For a full list of volunteer opportunities, head here.
Major fundraiser: AIDS Services of Dallas' largest fundraiser, the No Tie Dinner & Dessert Party, is one of Dallas' most highly anticipated and unique social events of the year. Groups of people across DFW host social gatherings, from backyard barbecues for as few as 10 people to formal dinners for 30 or more. In return for their hosts' hospitality, guests are asked to make a donation of $75 or more to ASD, of which all proceeds go toward housing and supportive services for ASD clients. During the evening, all dinner hosts and guests are invited to the Frontiers of Flight Museum, where more than 1,500 people gather annually for the No Tie Dinner & Dessert Party, an exciting evening of entertainment, dancing, music, drinks, and desserts donated by some of Dallas' finest caterers.

ALLGO
Mission: For over 30 years, Allgo has worked to create and sustain queer people of color activists, groups, organizations, and allies through artistic expression, promoting wellness, and grassroots organizing. Allgo celebrates and nurtures vibrant queer people of color communities in Texas and beyond by supporting artists and artistic expression; promoting health within a wellness model; and mobilizing and building coalitions among groups marginalized by race/ethnicity, gender/gender identity, and sexual orientation/sexual identity in order to enact change.
How to get involved: Allgo relies heavily on volunteers both in Austin and throughout Texas to build its statewide QPOC movement. Volunteer opportunities include serving on event-planning committees, working events, computer work, DJ services, newsletter writing, designing publicity materials, facilitating workshops and groups, and more. Email allgo@allgo.org for more information.
Membership: Being a member of Allgo means that you share in the vision of a just and equitable society that celebrates and nurtures vibrant queer people of color communities and that you commit your time and resources to support allgo. Contact Allgo to sign up to become a member, plus make a pledge for either a monthly or annual donation and/or offering a regular in-kind donation and/or regular volunteer work with Allgo.
Major fundraiser: Allgo’s annual Statewide Queer People Of Color Activist Summit brings together 25 QPOC activists from across the state to explore and develop strategies for the coming year, to celebrate accomplishments, and to learn self-care. The weekend-long summit is a space for dialogue about building a movement coming from a place of engaging possibilities rather than a place of fighting. Summit activities and workshops allow attendees to safely engage in dialogue, reflection, learning, and sharing experiences.

Black Tie Dinner
Mission: Black Tie Dinner is a nonprofit organization that raises funds for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) supportive organizations serving North Texas through a premier event of empowerment, education, and entertainment in partnership with the community. Since its inception in 1982, Black Tie Dinner has been the largest fundraising dinner for the LGBTQ community in the nation. Each year, Black Tie Dinner selects up to 20 North Texas beneficiaries to receive dinner proceeds as well as the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the Dinner's national beneficiary. To date, Black Tie Dinner has distributed over $22 million.
How to get involved: There are a number of ways to get involved with Black Tie Dinner, from becoming a sponsor or a table captain to volunteering your time or donating items. For a full list of opportunities, head here.
Major fundraiser: Each year, up to 3,000 guests experience the Black Tie Dinner, a gala like no other with dinner, award presentations, a live luxury auction, and featured speakers, plus an afterparty with plenty of drinks and dancing.

DIFFA Dallas
Mission: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA/Dallas) raises funds for organizations that aid in the fight against HIV/AIDS by providing preventative education programs, treatment, and direct care services for people living with/impacted by HIV/AIDS.
How to get involved: The donations given to DIFFA/Dallas help grant funds to local HIV/AIDS service organizations throughout North Texas, directly impacting the community. DIFFA/Dallas provides opportunities for sponsorships, underwriting, auction, and in-kind donations. You can also register here to become a volunteer.
Major fundraiser: Highlighting the design community, DIFFA/Dallas hosts multiple events throughout the season including Burgers & Burgundy, DIFFA/Dallas Wreath Collection, and House of DIFFA.

Equality Texas Foundation
Mission: The Equality Texas Foundation works to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Texans through education, community organizing, and collaboration.
How to get involved: Donate or volunteer here. You can also pledge to fight back against hate crimes, new laws that grant a license to discriminate, efforts to undermine marriage equality, and blocking access to healthcare here.

Resource Center
Mission: The mission of the Resource Center is to be a trusted leader that empowers the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) communities and all people affected by HIV through improving health and wellness, strengthening families and communities, and providing transformative education and advocacy.
How to get involved: More than 1,100 community members each year donate their time and talents to the Resource Center, which offers a variety of opportunities for getting involved, from serving meals to answering phones, stocking shelves, and helping at fundraising events. Volunteers enable the center to provide superior service to the community.
Membership: Resource Center created the Young Professional Advisory Council in 2013 to support the Center's Youth First program. The Young Professionals Advisory Council is a unique giving circle for young professionals (45 and under) who are passionate about providing opportunities for life skills, leadership development, peer support, and educational advancement to LGBTQ youth in the Dallas area. You can become a member of the Young Professional Advisory Council here.
Major fundraiser: Each year, the Resource Center hosts the Toast To Life gala, an annual evening featuring a lively theme that help raise money for the Resource Center and its services. Since its inception in 1999, Toast To Life has raised over $4 million to support its mission. Gay Bingo has also provided unique and fun-filled entertainment since 2001. Conducted at S4, Gay Bingo combines drag and comedy, with all funds raised directly benefiting the programs and services of the center.

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Animal News

Advocates find false info being fed to Texas legislators on pet store law

Puppy mill dogs do not have a great life.

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A national pet store chain has been implicated in a dishonest campaign to try and influence Texas lawmakers on an upcoming bill making its way through the legislature.

The pet store chain is Petland, and they're engaged in a battle against The Ethical Pet Sale Bill (SB 1652 / HB 3458), which would encourage pet stores to stop selling at-risk animals from puppy mills and support shelters and rescue groups instead.

The Ethical Pet Sale bill has support from rescue and animal groups across Texas, who are all grappling with a glut of animals on the streets and in overcrowded shelters. That pet overpopulation problem gets even worse when pet stores import more animals from puppy mills in states like Missouri and Ohio.

If Texas passes the bill, it will join a growing number of states and cities who've already passed similar laws including Dallas, Austin, Bryan, College Station, El Paso, Euless, Fort Worth, Houston, New Braunfels, Pasadena, San Antonio, The Colony, Sherman, and Waco.

Most reputable pet store chains such as PetSmart and PetCo do not sell cats and dogs. Petland does. The company operates 84 stores in the U.S., and fights bills like this by hiring lobbyists to discourage legislators from supporting these bills.

Phony list
In this case, a two-page summary was distributed to some Texas state senators listing reasons why they should oppose SB ("The evidence from other states, especially California, demonstrates that these types of bans do more harm than good"), plus a list of organizations that are opposed.

Most of the organizations opposed to the bill profit directly from animals, such as Petland and Puppy Dreams, a North Texas chain that also sells animals.

But the list also had surprising names including PetSmart, PetCo, and Pet Supplies Plus — the three largest pet store chains who all have a history of supporting adoption of shelter animals.

Their presence on the list caught the eye of animal advocacy groups such as Texas Humane Legislation Network and Humane World For Animals, who've worked with the big three in the past.

"We became aware of Petland Inc.’s lobbyist apparently sharing the attached document with legislators, claiming the listed pet and pet product industry leaders are opposing this legislation," said a spokesperson from Humane World of Animals (HWA). "We checked in with contacts at Petco, Petsmart, and the American Pet Products Association, and all of them deny opposing this legislation or giving Petland permission to list them on this opposition letter. It’s very possible others listed in this letter also did not give their permission to be included — we only connected with the those listed above at this stage."

CultureMap also contacted the three major pet store chains and received similar responses that they had not been consulted nor did they issue a rejection of the bill, although none wanted to be quoted.

The misrepresentation is concerning because it muddies the water with false information at a time when the bill is still under consideration:

HB 3458 — the version going through the Texas House — passed a House Committee with a 10-1 vote and has been moved up the chain towards passage.

SB 1652 — the version going through the Senate — still needs to get through the Senate Committee, Calendars, and a floor vote.

"By creating a false narrative about the position of the above industry leaders, this letter has the potential to sway lawmakers at a critical juncture in the legislation’s journey," the HWA spokesperson says.

Two Petland stores in the Dallas area — in Frisco and Tyler — have been the subject of undercover investigations. Petland Webster recently settled a lawsuit with several families that the store allegedly sold sick puppies to, and several lawsuits have been filed against Petland Woodlands in Texas, claiming the store sold sick puppies. One pet owner told the House Committee that he'd spent $20,000 on medical care of a puppy he bought at a pet store.

"Banning the retail sale of puppies and kittens is a common-sense solution to protect both animals and Texas consumers," said Dean Senator Judith Zaffirini of Laredo, who filed the bill. "My SB 1652 would help reduce pet overpopulation, promote responsible breeding practices and prevent families from unknowingly purchasing sick animals. With varying local ordinances in place and further action at the city level now restricted, it is important for the state to provide a clear and consistent approach that prioritizes both animal welfare and consumer protection."

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