Shannon Day

‘The Lovers & Fighters of America’ is a weekly column here at Ravishly featuring

This story of two strangers at a park reminds us of the value in human kindness and friendship. Friendship amidst bigotry.

Bustos first got the notion to offer haircuts to those in need in May of 2012 during a trip to his family’s home country, the Philippines. He was overwhelmed by the impact of the poverty there, and so rented a chair at a local barber shop for the day and offered free haircuts to children in the neighborhood.

In 2008, Jimenez co-founded United We Dream. As Executive Director, she has helped develop the non-profit into the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country. With Jimenez at the helm, UWD has grown to a powerful network of 57 affiliates in 25 states, with over 300,000 members.

'The Lovers & Fighters of America' is a weekly column here at Ravishly featuring behind-the-scenes stories of inspirational people taking

The process is simple: for every drink purchased, customers receive a wooden token to drop into one of six jars located around the establishment. Each jar is labeled with a pro-equality organization’s name.

“I was compelled to come out on social media because I felt it was time that I wasn’t hiding who I was. It was more so coming out to say I was in a relationship; it just happened to be with a woman this time. She’s the best thing to ever happen to me so I figured I should show her off.”

Dominic’s own childhood experiences inspired him to start up QEDU, a California non-profit that educates and builds awareness of the LGBTQ community.