Out bisexual actress Sara Ramirez has withdrawn a donation she made to the LGBT Community Center in New York after she said the organization failed to follow through on its pledge to use the funds to implement bisexual-based training for its staff.
“Just got a full refund from the NY LGBT Center because after a year & a half of promising my donation would create #bi+ assessments & training 4 their staff, it never happened,” Ramirez wrote in a tweet March 11.
A spokesperson for the Center acknowledged that the organization did not incorporate the trainings.
“We strive to meet donors’ expectations but unfortunately were not able to do so in this instance,” said Mary Steyer, the Center’s senior director of communications. “Given that, the most responsible course of action was to return the donor’s gift.
The actress, who came out in 2016, instead opted to shift her funds to BiNet USA, a nonprofit bisexual community organization, in order to train folks at Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors United, which addresses youth homelessness with a particular focus on LGBTQ kids.
It is not clear how much money Ramirez originally donated or what kind of training will be carried out with the re-allocated funds.
BiNet USA tweeted in response to Ramirez, thanking her “for this opportunity to educate and make the world a little but [sic] better.”
Ramirez, who originally hails from Mexico, has a special connection the True Color Fund. She came out during the 2016 40 To None Summit, which was spearheaded by that organization, and she currently serves on its board of directors.
The actress’ career has included multiple roles depicting bisexual characters. She has starred as Callie Torres in “Grey’s Anatomy” and Kat Sandoval on “Madam Secretary.”
Prior to becoming known for her on-screen work, Ramirez nabbed a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress for her role in the Broadway musical comedy “Spamalot.”
Ramirez received the Ally for Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign in 2015.
