Queer nonprofit LYRIC is honoring Juanita MORE! — (me!) — for collectively donating $140,000 in 2024.
Earlier this year, I chose the LYRIC Center of LGBTQQ Youth (Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center) in the San Francisco Bay Area as my annual Pride Party beneficiary. I wanted to highlight the great work at LYRIC because the challenges faced by the LGBTQIA+ community locally, nationally, and globally are serious on many levels.
We see daily efforts to dismantle our rights to exist simply. I want to keep building our future by supporting our queer youth in their quest to carry on the legacy of our queer elders.
LYRIC has chosen to recognize me at their annual Donor Appreciation Soirée this November for helping raise more than $140,000 through my annual Pride campaign. I’m honored to receive this acknowledgment and thank the community for making it happen. I’ll admit these things make me a little nervous, even coming from a drag queen as pretty as me.
Many amazing events and parties happen throughout the city, and I’m proud to say that my annual event has become one of the biggest nonprofit parties over Pride weekend. It continues to give back to some of San Francisco’s most impactful organizations. Thank you to everyone who purchased a ticket and sponsored it; because of you, this Pride party became one of the most incredible days of the year.
This acknowledgment especially means so much to me because Mayor London Breed’s budget cuts, signed right after Pride, greatly affected LYRIC. Being able to give back to an organization that is helping to uplift and support the next generation of LGBTQIA+ youth means the world to me.
LYRIC Executive Director Gael Lala-Chávez told the Bay Area Reporter, “We did not receive our entire gap back,” Lala-Chávez stated. We lost $1,013,110 of funding via the San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families. Additionally, LYRIC lost an additional $380,000 in funding in other city departments totaling $1.3 [million], which forced us to lay off some of our amazing staff and scale back programs.”
LYRIC’s vision is to inspire and encourage youth to be who they want to be through social justice and support for young leaders, their families, and allies. Now more than ever, I am seeing more and more of our queer POC youth leading the way. They will be my voice when I can’t speak anymore and will change laws, minds, and open hearts. The time has come for everyone to celebrate LGBTQIS+ POCs as leaders, activists, and trendsetters.
You can get tickets to this event by following this link: Donor Appreciation Soirée
Juanita MORE! is a denizen of the limelight. For almost three decades, the laudable hostess has blitzed San Francisco with high glamour, drag irreverence, and danceable beats that have illuminated the entire city. MORE! continues to be a heaping dollop of generosity and a sprinkle of nerve. She inspires those around her to make positive differences in their lives and communities — and doing it all with timeless elegance and an innovative spirit. Most recently, after her reign, Miss MORE! holds the title of Absolute Empress 56 of the Imperial Council of San Francisco –– one of the oldest non-profit organizations globally.
To date, MORE! has helped raise over 1 million dollars for local charities — among them GBLT Historical Society & Archives, Our Trans Youth, Q Foundation, Queer Lifespace, Transgender Law Center, and more. In addition, MORE! tirelessly fundraises for organizations in San Francisco that are adamant about helping communities in the seven-by-seven thrive, all while shining light and offering support to those who’ve been overlooked for far too long.
MORE! embodies what it means to be a conduit of connection. MORE!’ brings the people together to fundraise, celebrate community, and demand social change around San Francisco and elsewhere. Her culinary expressions are an extension of what mothers have been doing in their kitchens for generations — which, simply states, is sharing “loads of love.”