Drinking for Change

On Friday March 19 and Saturday March 20, New York City’s gay bars hosted a night to help support the entire gay community.

Co-founded and organized by New Yorker Peter Dunn, 24, the event is called “Drinking For A Change.” Notable city bars like Pieces, Stonewall Inn, Therapy, Uncle Charlie's, Cubbyhole and others participated to raise money for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations by charging patrons a dollar extra per drink. At the end of the weekend, the extra dollars were collected to be donated to LGBT organizations including Pride Agenda, the largest national organization working to gain marriage equality across the state, and Alliforney, an organization for homeless LGBT youth, some of whom have been kicked out of their homes because of their sexual orientation.

Dunn said the event was inspired in part by Mormon churches in California, which raised money for anti-gay organizations leading up to the vote on Proposition 8.

“There was weekly fundraising in the churches in the Mormon community against marriage equality. They were passing around buckets and raising money. That money went to organizations against gay marriage,” said Dunn.

DFAC was looking for a similar type of community event, where they could raise money to help empower their own community.

“We were looking for something that aims for the everyday person, especially in the LGBT community,” said Dunn. “We have bars.”

Hosts welcomed guests at every bar, explaining to them what the DFAC is and making sure they were having fun. Depending on how successful this first weekend proves to have been, DFAC aims to host this event monthly and to expand the idea to bars in other cities.

“Next time the vote for Proposition 8 happens in California we’ll go there, and go to bars in West Hollywood, and raise money, and donate it all to California based organizations,” said Dunn. “We’ll get drunk and raise a crap load of money for human equality.”