Just this week, LGBT Books to Prisoners received a letter from Geri, a transgender woman in a New York prison. She wrote that when she came out as trans, her family disowned her and now she has no one to support her. She requested a medical book from us to help with her transition.

This National Coming Out Day, LGBT Books to Prisoners asks you to #ComeOutAgainstPrison by becoming a monthly sustainer to support our work of getting books behind bars and into the hands of people like Geri, and many other LGBTQ, Two Spirit, genderqueer, and same gender loving people who are incarcerated. So far in 2015, we have sent over 2500 packages of books to people in almost every state! Support #BooksNotBars and become a monthly sustainer by pledging as little as $5 per month to support our work, which would allow us to send one more package of books each month to an LGBTQ person in prison.

From October 11-31, our goal is to bring one new sustainer per day to the team. This means we want at least 20 new people to commit to supporting our work every month from now through the future. Set up your recurring sponsorship using PayPal or through our fiscal sponsor, the PC foundation.

Since 2007, LGBT Books to Prisoners has sent books and educational materials to nearly 4000 people in U.S. prisons and jails. At an average cost of $5 per package, we need you to continue this work! Our project, freely housed in the Rainbow Bookstore Cooperative in Madison, runs entirely on volunteer labor. Dozens of volunteers show up 2-3 times per week to fill orders, write personal notes to people on the inside, and wrap packages to send out.

Even with free rent and free labor, this project cannot continue without sustainable funds. Our average monthly costs including postage and supplies total around $800, for annual costs of just under $10,000 per year. Will you #ComeOutAgainstPrison and support our work for $5, $10 or $20 per month?

For more information or updates, visit our website: lgbtbookstoprisoners.org, Facebook: www.facebook.com/lgbtbookstoprisoners, or Twitter: @lgbtbooksprison. Please use the hashtags #ComeOutAgainstPrison and #BooksNotBars to share with your friends and communities.