November 29, 2016 
sharon 
Today is Giving Tuesday, a five-year-old movement launched as an antidote to the commercialism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday at the start of the holiday season.
There are many fine organizations you can give to, and this year ones that work in immigration advocacy, women’s issues, LGBTQ rights, racial equality, and other human rights issues seem more worthy than ever. But because we’re in the business of stories, I wanted to take a minute to mention a few groups I admire that work to make sure folks of all ages can enjoy the power of reading and all the doors it opens–and are free to make their own voices heard.
Girls Write Now https://www.girlswritenow.org/
Girls Write Now mentors underserved high school girls from throughout New York City’s five boroughs — over 90% high need and 95% girls of color — who must rise above the race and income-based inequalities of the city’s public school system and the nation’s workforce. Through one-to-one mentoring with professional women writers, writing and technology workshops, and leadership, college prep, and professional development opportunities, we inspire women to share their craft and empower girls to find their voices and tell their stories.
United Through Reading http://www.unitedthroughreading.org/
In more than 200 locations worldwide, United Through Reading offers military service members the opportunity to be video-recorded reading books to their children at home. Our program creates emotional connections between parents and their children, encourages literacy, and makes homecomings easier.
PEN America https://pen.org/
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.
If you’re looking for more giving ideas, Book Riot offered a round-up with many more literacy organizations. And Electric Lit put a great list of places to volunteer your time and talents!
Do you have a favorite reading/writing non-profit that you support? Tell us about it in the comments or head on over to Twitter and share there!
All these are fine causes which we need more of, but a gay friend of mine who’s getting really tired of playing Alphabet Monopoly asked me to ask you guys (Does all this sound like high school all over again or what?) if we could all just go back to saying “gay” as our catch-all group definition term? He’s got a whole list of convoluted sociological reasons for this, but with my writer’s grasp of Occam’s Razor I’ll just point out that there’s no faster way to ruin a snappy piece of gay-related dialogue or narrative than having to stop, face Benares, and ceremonially burn incense before all the various sub-varietals of this orientation that have been thought of so far. (With more to follow, doubtless) As an academic source for this increasingly popular position I’ll point out that such disparate shows as SCREAM QUEENS and MODERN FAMILY almost never use the LGBTQ term, and if you want a good real-world example of how damn clunky it sounds, watch the KTVU Channel 2 News reporters in San Francisco turning verbal somersaults anytime something happens on that subject. Kids who want to learn to write these days need to learn about verbal flow and this term isn’t going to help them. As Chanel Oberlin would say, “Enough already! We’re trying to have a party here before the killer comes back!!!”