The nonprofit Claim Our Space Now is shining a light on the Black LGBTQ community in the pandemic. The founder, Dimitri Moise, says he wants to create safe spaces and provide resources to people who need them.  

"There were a lot of times where as an LGBTQ person, my life has been at risk,” Moise said. “I think of the times where I was in high school and I would just be trying to get lunch in the cafeteria and I would get food thrown at me, telling me I should burn and go to hell. Being so ashamed of who I was, and sometimes I felt I don't even want to be here."

What You Need To Know

  • Dimitri Moise never felt that he had safe spaces growing up

  • Claim Our Space Now provides resources for the Black LGBTQ community

  • His group created a directory for resources in the city and around the country

  • Moise said he wishes he had these resources when he was younger

Moise's past is the reason he co-founded the nonprofit group.

"Claim our Space Now is a nonprofit organization that is focused on helping the most disenfranchised communities, particularly Black LGBTQ and Black trans communities," Moise said.

It has raised almost $40,000 for programs including mental health and educational resources. 

"Here we have our queer safe spaces for LGBTQ folks in Brooklyn — Brooklyn Community Pride Center," Moise said, pointing to the online directory the organization created for facilities across the city and country. "You can look up your state, you can look up your city."

After the racial justice protests last year, he said the resources are vital.

"I think over the last year particularly with the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, we are in a really crucial moment. I don't know when we are going to get this chance again to speak up for Black communities," Moise said.

On the day we met up with Moise, he was visiting Prospect Park, where the second "Rally for Freedom" march will be held. He showed us some photos from last year — where Black and LGBTQ people protested for racial justice.  This year, the gathering takes on more of a celebratory tone. On June 26, there will be a 5K run and more.

"We are going to have a concert that is featuring and amplifying Black trans performers and Black trans speakers and there really isn't that opportunity anywhere else in the city," Moise said.

He said he does this work to make it easier for others.

"When I was younger, I did not have a community to turn to. I did not have anyone who looked like me and to be that person creating safe spaces for other people, to be providing them with the resources I wish I had is just so important to me," Moise said.