Sometimes, even the worst intentions go beautifully awry.
Minus 18, an Australian nonprofit that serves LGBTQ youth, recently decided to hold a formal dance for their clients. An antigay coalition called 'STOP Safe Schools' soon caught wind of this "heathen" prom and decided to do everything they could to shut it down. But in trying to close it, they made one small tiny error -- and accidentally raised thousands of dollars for LGBTQ youth.
Hell yeah.
To stop the dance, STOP Safe organizers decided to buy as many tickets as they could. Their goal was to buy out the entire event, then not show up, making it impossible for real teens to attend. The tickets, they wrote in their original Facebook post, which has since been taken down, were nontransferable. Little did they realize, every ticket purchased on behalf of 'STOP SAFE' could make a real difference in the life of LGBT teens.
But STOP Safe's efforts were, in fact, too successful -- and the organization quickly raised thousands of dollars for Minus 18. Instead of shutting the event down, Minus 18 decided to simply move the event to a larger venue.
When ticketholders, including the STOP Safe purchasers, failed to show up to the event, Minus 18 pledged to give those tickets to LGBTQ youth on the waitlist. By raising so much money, STOP Safe effectively subsidized tickets for hundreds of LGBTQ youth.
"Thanks to the generous support of the entire community, the Same Sex Gender Diverse Formal 2016: Victoria will be FREE for all young people to attend," Minus 18 wrote on their Facebook page yesterday.
While MInus18's initial fundraising goal was just $15,000, they have now raised over $45,000 on their crowdfunding page.
Justice served.