Kyle's "Get Out Of My Lease" Fund
My name is Kyle Guthrie.
I'm an artist and a bit of a bohemian who has been active in several communities for the past few years. Supportive of many scenes from Chattanooga to Huntsville to where I now reside in Knoxville, I love to see people flourish in their art and live out their dreams. I've been a proud supporter of such wonderful people and organizations as Subterranean Cirqus, 423PK, JJ's Bohemia, Fort Sanders Yacht Club, The Honest Pint, Challenge Entertainment, Chattanooga Pride, Chattanooga Organized for Action, Girls Inc., and Scenic City Folks Volks/Bug-a-Paluza, which in turn helps out the Ronald McDonald House and the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. I've volunteered for Blood Assurance, Tiger Haven, The Humane Society, and other great organizations. I have given so much and have never asked for anything in return other than the love and support of my friends and family, because we're all in this world together.
Today is the day I ask for that help in return. My apartment complex wants to evict my roommates for being gay. As someone who is a supporter of gay rights, I am absolutely horrified and offended by this. While the complex claims rightly that it is because they weren't on the lease which is true, they offered very few options in comparison to what they offered me and are forcing them out. For six months they have lived here without any issue helping me with the bills and being just wonderful people in this community, but now suddenly it's a gigantic issue to have them here since a member of the maintenance team found out these guys were gay. With them here I'm getting evicted in 30 days. Without them here, I cannot afford to live here anymore. And I don't want to be here anymore. Sadly, it's a lease, and I am stuck paying the rent and utilities here for the next three months until my lease is finally extinguished. I don't want to be here. I certainly don't want to give this company any more money. But I have no choice. Sadly, I cannot afford to do so. Thanks to draconian Tennessee Law there is no protection for LGBT. This is something I hope to change in the future but for now I need to get out of here. I hope to move to a friendlier complex with my roommates, run by wonderful people who have no problem with gay gentlemen living in their apartments, and who actually care about their tennants.
You may be asking what this $3000 will be going towards.
1. To pay off the rest of the rent that I owe, which will be $1635.
2. To pay a utility bill that I cannot turn off or have transferred, the price of which fluctuates. I've seen it as low as $50 and seen it as high as $150. It will be lower, as I won't be in the apartment during this time period.
3. To pay for any "repairs." This is literally to prevent me from having debt to this company, something I do not want because it will effect my credit. As there was no full price security deposit they said I would be responsible if they had to make repairs and as the company is now refusing to fix things such as the fridge, garbage disposal (which has been broken for months), and they did repairs to the bathroom in a bad way that caused some imperfections I'm afraid they might charge me for that as well.
4. Additional fees which come from getting out of this place.
I hope there to be a remainder, as this $3000 number has been chosen with a buffer placed on my estimations. Of that $3000, if I don't use all of it for this purpose, the rest of they money will be donated to the Tennessee Equality Project to raise awareness to have statutes put in place to protect the LGBT community from this kind of discrimination in the future. This includes anything over the initial $3000. I want to make sure that part is clear as crystal.
I want to get personal for a moment. Some of you know me. I could name some names, for sure, who are going to see this. I know some of you have gay friends or family, many of you are gay or bi yourselves. Many of you might not know I'm bisexual. Yes, it's true. I do have a wonderful lady in my life who I love dearly, but that doesn't change the fact this right here is wrong. I don't want to give this company money either, but it's best if I just get out of this unscathed for now.
Thank you so much for viewing this fundraising project. Please link it to friends, family, and communities who could help.
Another good way to help me out if you don't want to donate to my GoFundMe is to purchase tshirts from my RedBubble account. This way you get something out of it too! All proceeds from now until I'm out of the apartment will be part of the fundraising.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/skunkrocker
With tons of love and a pint of beer,
- Kyle "Skunkrocker" Guthrie
I'm an artist and a bit of a bohemian who has been active in several communities for the past few years. Supportive of many scenes from Chattanooga to Huntsville to where I now reside in Knoxville, I love to see people flourish in their art and live out their dreams. I've been a proud supporter of such wonderful people and organizations as Subterranean Cirqus, 423PK, JJ's Bohemia, Fort Sanders Yacht Club, The Honest Pint, Challenge Entertainment, Chattanooga Pride, Chattanooga Organized for Action, Girls Inc., and Scenic City Folks Volks/Bug-a-Paluza, which in turn helps out the Ronald McDonald House and the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. I've volunteered for Blood Assurance, Tiger Haven, The Humane Society, and other great organizations. I have given so much and have never asked for anything in return other than the love and support of my friends and family, because we're all in this world together.
Today is the day I ask for that help in return. My apartment complex wants to evict my roommates for being gay. As someone who is a supporter of gay rights, I am absolutely horrified and offended by this. While the complex claims rightly that it is because they weren't on the lease which is true, they offered very few options in comparison to what they offered me and are forcing them out. For six months they have lived here without any issue helping me with the bills and being just wonderful people in this community, but now suddenly it's a gigantic issue to have them here since a member of the maintenance team found out these guys were gay. With them here I'm getting evicted in 30 days. Without them here, I cannot afford to live here anymore. And I don't want to be here anymore. Sadly, it's a lease, and I am stuck paying the rent and utilities here for the next three months until my lease is finally extinguished. I don't want to be here. I certainly don't want to give this company any more money. But I have no choice. Sadly, I cannot afford to do so. Thanks to draconian Tennessee Law there is no protection for LGBT. This is something I hope to change in the future but for now I need to get out of here. I hope to move to a friendlier complex with my roommates, run by wonderful people who have no problem with gay gentlemen living in their apartments, and who actually care about their tennants.
You may be asking what this $3000 will be going towards.
1. To pay off the rest of the rent that I owe, which will be $1635.
2. To pay a utility bill that I cannot turn off or have transferred, the price of which fluctuates. I've seen it as low as $50 and seen it as high as $150. It will be lower, as I won't be in the apartment during this time period.
3. To pay for any "repairs." This is literally to prevent me from having debt to this company, something I do not want because it will effect my credit. As there was no full price security deposit they said I would be responsible if they had to make repairs and as the company is now refusing to fix things such as the fridge, garbage disposal (which has been broken for months), and they did repairs to the bathroom in a bad way that caused some imperfections I'm afraid they might charge me for that as well.
4. Additional fees which come from getting out of this place.
I hope there to be a remainder, as this $3000 number has been chosen with a buffer placed on my estimations. Of that $3000, if I don't use all of it for this purpose, the rest of they money will be donated to the Tennessee Equality Project to raise awareness to have statutes put in place to protect the LGBT community from this kind of discrimination in the future. This includes anything over the initial $3000. I want to make sure that part is clear as crystal.
I want to get personal for a moment. Some of you know me. I could name some names, for sure, who are going to see this. I know some of you have gay friends or family, many of you are gay or bi yourselves. Many of you might not know I'm bisexual. Yes, it's true. I do have a wonderful lady in my life who I love dearly, but that doesn't change the fact this right here is wrong. I don't want to give this company money either, but it's best if I just get out of this unscathed for now.
Thank you so much for viewing this fundraising project. Please link it to friends, family, and communities who could help.
Another good way to help me out if you don't want to donate to my GoFundMe is to purchase tshirts from my RedBubble account. This way you get something out of it too! All proceeds from now until I'm out of the apartment will be part of the fundraising.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/skunkrocker
With tons of love and a pint of beer,
- Kyle "Skunkrocker" Guthrie
Organizer
Kyle Guthrie
Organizer
Knoxville, TN