Amount: $25,000
2015
New York, NY
FIERCE was founded in 2000 by a group of primarily LGBTQ youth of color on the principle that LGBTQ youth must realize and manifest their own social and political power to change their conditions. Its Quality of Life Campaign is a locally focused campaign, aimed ultimately at changing the laws and regulations that criminalize low-income, LGBTQ, and youth of color for “Quality of Life” offenses like spitting or eating in a public space. Hazen’s renewal grant would support FIERCE’s work on the Quality of Life Campaign, including an online Participatory Action Research project to identify the various Quality of Life offenses in the City (they vary by borough), a report, and a “’zine” on the impact of these laws and regulations. FIERCE also will press for City Council hearings on the report and changes in the City’s laws and Administrative Code.