It is truly sad about Wingspan, but not surprising. My Partner was a volunteer at Wingspan for over three years. At the front desk the staff always said hello and chatted with the volunteers.

When the current Executive Director was in place none of the volunteers knew who he was. John (my partner) finally found out who the E.D was and went and introduced himself. The E.D. made no effort to get to know or interface with the volunteers, or much of the Tucson GLBT community. This is a direct contributing factor to the problems Wingspan has experienced.

For a GLBT Center to not only survive but thrive, you need all volunteers and staff to be out front and in the community. In the past this was true; sadly, it is no longer.

The annual Dinner, a major source of fundraising, has been canceled. This was the yearly event that brought the entire Tucson GLBT community (and their allies) together, and was a significant source of income for Wingspan. Even in this economy it should have been continued, albeit on a smaller scale.

Those of us that helped Wingspan grow are indeed heartbroken at these developments.

These are hard times for LGBT centers that aren't located in places like NYC, LA, Chicago, etc.

I look at the community's response to these requests for help to be indicative of their priorities. We will ignore organizations that provide social/cultural services, but let something happen to a party and watch people's anger rise!

We just found Wingspan and SAGA in Tucson one year ago, and the thought of losing this precious resource in my community frightens me greatly! My own eight-year-old daughter is transgender. She's a young child growing up needing the type of support this community center offers. Where will we be without Wingspan?

Thank you so much Waymon for drawing much-needed attention to the changes happening at LGBT community centers around the country, including at Wingspan.

A comment was posted earlier about the needs of the San Jose center, which my husband visited when he was first coming out. So many in our community have stories about how their LGBT center positively affected their lives. Drawing attention at the national level to the need for these institutions to endure is key to getting through this recession.

This is not just a crisis affecting local communities, our movement's infrastructure nationwide has been critically affected. We've watched billions in stimulus dollars go to huge corporations, while few non-profits have been able to access resources needed to maintain the critical social safety net they provide to millions of Americans, gay or straight.

We need to demand that the tax dollars our community pays flow back to the institutions uniquely positioned and trained to provide critical, lifesaving services to LGBT community members most in need, from homeless youth to transgender and other victims of violence, hate crimes, and employment discrimination.

I also hope that our community will do all it can to support their centers and other critical nonprofit institutions. For some, that is making a donation that is personally significant, no matter the amount. For others, it is giving time and expertise as a volunteer. There are so many ways to give, and now is the time. Our community and our movement needs you.