Bleachers, Sara Bareilles, Elle King & Lena Dunham for Talent Show Benefiting Homeless LGBTQ Youth

Jack Antonoff and Lena Dunham at an Ally Coalition concert. Photo: Rebecca Sapp/WireImage.com

By James Pleasant

Talented musicians and comedians will join forces for a night of good music and laughs on December 1 for The Ally Coalition’s second annual talent show to support homeless LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer) youth.

The talent show, taking place in NYC’s New World Stages, will feature performances from Bleachers, Sara Bareilles, Lena Dunham, Elle King and more.

The Ally Coalition, a nonprofit started by Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff and his sister Rachel Antonoff – who will also serve as the event’s host – is dedicated to fighting discrimination against the LGBTQ community through education, awareness and advocacy.

Antonofff points out that this is a human rights issue that affects everyone, not just the LGBTQ community. “This is everyone’s issue,” he told Pride Source. “We are not all free unless we are all free. Just because I was born into the elite class of straight Americans who have maximum rights does not mean that I won’t fight as if it were me being denied human rights.”

All proceeds for the show will go to New Alternatives, a nonprofit in New York that assists LGBT homeless youth.

A whopping 40 percent of homeless teens identify as LGBT, largely because many young people have intolerant families and are kicked out of their parents’ homes after coming out. The Ally Coalition works with other organizations to help promote tolerance and understanding so that these numbers decrease, and provides much-needed support for these youth. What’s more, there are currently 31 states where one can be fired for being transgender, and 29 states where one can be fired for being gay, so a lot of work still needs to be done.

Ally Coalition’s talent show will take place on Giving Tuesday, the day that kicks off the end-of-the-year charitable giving season and uses social media to connect individuals and organizations to celebrate giving back to the community. Giving Tuesday is observed on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, and serves as the antithesis to the materialism of Black Friday during the holiday season.

Grab tickets to the Ally Coalition Talent Show here.

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