Katie McManus records an emotional YouTube video announcing that her nonprofit, the Gay Birthday Club, has received 501(c)(3) status. She describes the organization’s mission—to call LGBTQ people on their birthdays to sing and celebrate them, especially those estranged from family—and explains the origin: inspired by a friend who stopped receiving birthday calls after coming out as trans. The video focuses on her joy, tears, and relief (she did not expect approval under the current administration) and her intent to share celebratory posts once she regains composure.
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Found out that I'm so excited I can't even talk. I just found out that my nonprofit that I started last year that I honestly didn't think would get 501c3 because it's called the Gay Birthday Club and it supports people in the LGBTQ community, just got 501c3. Did I just say that? I think I already said that after freaking out and calling everyone on the board and just like blowing up their phones and leaving really obscure voicemails about good news because I want to be able to tell them, oh no, it's raining. I just had to come into the backyard and I immediately started crying because I didn't realize how much hope this would give me for our country. It's been really hard to watch the news over the last four months and to think about all the people who are being harmed and the fact that someone at the IRS saw our cute little non profit that is just trying to spread joy and happiness on people's birthdays when they don't get love from their families. It just means so much.
So I'm gonna start posting really happy birthday stuff soon, but obviously not right now in this moment because I'm a mess.
Just to give you like the short note of what the Gay Birthday Club is, there are some folks, there are a lot of folks in the LGBTQ community actually who do not get phone calls on their birthdays from their families because their families are too narrow minded to accept them. And after hearing a friend of mine on LinkedIn share about how he didn't get a call from his dad anym on his birthday since since he came out as trans, I realized like this is just something simple that we could do to tend to the spirit of folks who deserve so much love for being their authentic selves. So the Gay Birthday Club is literally a nonprofit that is there to call folks on their birthdays. So they get a warm, lovey, cringy singing happy birthday song. And it's really easy for me to write off what we're going to do in the greater scheme of all the things that are happening right now. But I really do think it's important. Our whole mission is to call people on their birthday and just sing them happy Birthday and make sure that they know they're loved and celebrated. And I think we need a lot more of that right now.
So I am so excited to tell you more about it when I'm not crying and not like a mess because.
I didn't think we were gonna get 501C3 with the current administration.
Oh, my God. But right now I have to go cry because I can't hold myself together, so, yeah.
