Beverly Tillery became the Executive Director of New York's Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project (AVP) in 2015. The AVP celebrated her appointment as the first black leader of the organization, which is the oldest LGBTQ+ advocacy group in New York City.
AVP provides numerous services to LGBTQ+ and HIV-positive individuals, including a bilingual 24-hour hotline, counseling and legal services, and financial planning.
However, Tillery was fired from that job in 2024.
According to a lawsuit filed by Tillery, the board's reason for the dismissal was for the mismanagement of funds, but Tillery alleges the actual reason was for RACISM!!!
And get this: Tillery claims the lawsuit that it's conservatives who pushed her out.
Since 2022, the Board has undergone a transition, with people of color and non-profit-focused Board members leaving, and an influx of more politically conservative, predominantly white Board members with little relevant non-profit experience and tepid commitment to AVP's programs and long-held values.
She's claiming a "conservative" board has taken over an LGBTQ+ advocacy group?
I'm confused.
One would think that unless a LGBTQ+ organization is offering mental and spiritual help to avoid these detrimental lifestyles, they're probably not all that conservative.
So, what exactly did Tillery's "conservative" board members accuse her of?
In her lawyer's own words, rather than use the organization's funds for ALL LGBTQ+ citizens in New York City she used them for the following:
Among other crises, since 2015, there has been a rise in hate crimes and violence against LGBTQ people, particularly LGBTQ people of color and Black transgender women.
A societal movement challenging police violence has also acutely affected the LGBTQ community, particularly its minority, immigrant, and transgender and gender non-conforming members.
In addition, following the Trump Administration's crackdown on immigration, LGTBQ asylum seekers have needed increased non-profit assistance.
Throughout these challenges, Tillery successfully oversaw an expansion of AVP's advocacy and services in these and other areas, on a local and national scale.
To sum up, she changed the focus of the organization from a local one to a national one, and prioritized people of color and illegal migrants.
In other words, this "racism" Tillery speaks of might just be her own.
And because the board wanted to stick to their original mandate, which did not include being a Marxist, racist organization, she called them "Conservative."
Just another classic case of the Left moving the line.
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