Who We Are

Our mission

Our Approach

Brave Space Alliance is the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals on the South and West sides of the city. We strive to empower, embolden, and educate each other through mutual aid, knowledge-sharing, and the creation of community-sourced resources as we build toward the liberation of all oppressed peoples.

Mutual Aid as an Organizing Strategy

All of BSA’s programs, services, and resources utilize a mutual aid framework. Mutual aid understands that systems and institutions can’t and won’t sustain us, but WE can. BIPOC communities and community members have everything they need to sustain themselves when given the same access to resources and skills needed to ensure they create a life of their choosing.

We’re an LGBTQ+ center that serves the entire community but we prioritize BIPOC transgender and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) individuals because they are most marginalized and vulnerable of the LGBTQ+ community. Most programs, services, and resources geared towards BIPOC TGNC individuals provide temporary solutions that do not address the root of their problems.

As BIPOC individuals of trans experience, we believe that we are the experts on our lived experiences and can better identify our needs which is why all programming, services, and resource provided by BSA give community members an active hand in development and implementation.

Strategic Priorities

1. Health & Wellness

We view health and wellness as broad concepts, reaching far beyond getting tested or focusing on medical services. Queer and trans people face unique barriers to living full, healthy lives. We break down these barriers by offering programs that focus on the needs in our community, such as food insecurity, housing insecurity, and economic justice.

2. Visibility & Expansion

We want Black and Brown queer and trans people to be seen, wherever and however they want to be seen. And we know our community deserves services that are accessible to them, in the neighborhoods in which they live. Brave Space is striving to expand our programming to all parts of the South and West sides; if you are located there and want to partner with us, please reach out!

3. Bravery & Solidarity

We step away from the language of safety because we know that queer and trans people can never truly be safe in spaces and communities that are not of our own making. We instead emphasize bravery– living one’s fullest, truest, and best life in the face of oppression– and solidarity as ideals for the longevity of our communities and the best hopes for queer and trans liberation. 

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