It was 2015 when Lora Smith first heard of Elijah "Lige" Clarke, a Hindman, Kentucky native and influential leader during the gay liberation movement.
Clarke, a U.S. Army veteran, was an early member and organizer of the Mattachine Society, the first gay liberation organization in the U.S., and became a leader of the group’s New York and Washington DC chapters. He helped organize the first gay rights picket line at the White House in 1965. And with his partner, Jack Nicols, Clarke created and edited "Gay," the country's first national LGBTQ newspaper, founding it in 1969 following the Stonewall Riots.
You can read more about Clarke's life in this February report from Queer Kentucky.
Smith, moved by his story, sought out a way to lift up that history that was unknown by many Kentuckians. Years later, that vision has taken shape as the Lige Clarke Liberation Fund, which aims to support LGBTQ+ activism, leadership and infrastructure in Eastern Kentucky.
In an interview last week, Smith, now chief strategy officer at the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, told me she was able to reconnect with Clarke's nephew, Eric Rhein, during Pride 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. She pitched the idea for a fund that would support those who looked to follow in Clarke's footsteps.
"What if we did a memorial fund that was a targeted fun to support LGBTQ-plus leaders and policy change in Eastern Kentucky and named after your uncle to celebrate that history?" Smith asked Rhein. "It's grounded in the fact that there has always been gay people in the mountains and there always will be gay people in the mountains."
That's when Smith brought in Baylen Campbell, now director of community impact at Invest Appalachia, to help shape the strategy for the fund. At the time, Campbell was with the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, leading its InVision Hazard economic development initiative, and Smith was the executive director of the Appalachian Impact Fund (AIF). They had discussed creating an LGBTQ+ fund at the Foundation for years.
"We were all on the same page, which was really exciting, with what we wanted to accomplish and what we wanted this fund to support," Campbell said. "The intent really is to just be able to support folks in Eastern Kentucky because there is a really great, robust queer community here that is often overlooked and underserved. In the absence of those essential social services, how do we begin to bolster support for our community ourselves?"
The Lige Clarke Liberation Fund, announced earlier this month, has one commitment thus far: The J.H. Walker Legacy Foundation is matching gifts up to $10,000. As a result, Smith said they are currently in fundraising mode, while also building a queer-led advisory committee with a mix of people that currently live in Eastern Kentucky and those who may be living outside the region.
Smith couldn't make an official announcement yet, but noted they are in talks with several business leaders in the region who may join the advisory committee, as the fund aims to support LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs, too. The Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky is prioritizing supporting entrepreneurship in the coming years, continuing the work it started during the coronavirus pandemic.
"We can make grants directly to small businesses, and then that's a great way to get them connected to the work of the Foundation, with AIF, and we also have a business accelerator called Invest 606 that sits at the Foundation, which does pitch contests and provides technical assistance," Smith said. "We have this whole entrepreneurial ecosystem that offers all kinds of technical assistance, zero- to low-interest lending and other grant dollars. We very much want to know that pipeline of queer-owned businesses in the region so that we have visibility."
In that same vein, the Foundation and Appalachians for Appalachia will host The Appalachian Big Ideas Festival Sept. 29 through Oct. 1 in Hazard, Kentucky. During the festival, attendees will explore the future of affordable housing, entrepreneurship, downtown revitalization, community safety, local food and sustainable agriculture, arts and culture, racial equity, local leadership development and the big ideas moving the region forward.
For more information or to get involved with the Lige Clark Liberation Fund, click here or reach out to Smith directly at lora@appalachianky.org.
