Funders for LGBTQ Issues joins the chorus of voices in denouncing the Trump Administration’s inhumane and unjustifiable separation and detention of families at the United States border and the blatantly discriminatory ban on Muslim immigrants. We encourage our network of funders to help fill the moral void that is being left by a government that either cannot or will not act to resolve this unacceptable situation.

We recognize that immigration is an LGBTQ issue. More than 70 countries around the world criminalize the existence of LGBTQ people. Immigration to the United States and other LGBTQ-friendly countries through asylum has often been the only recourse LGBTQ people have to live as them full selves free from fear and persecution.

The families being separated at the Southern United States border are fleeing fear and persecution. Tragically, as they cross into the United States, they face a tortuous reality when they are detained and their children are taken from them.

LGBTQ people have long faced legal and social barriers to building and maintaining our families. Members of our community, particularly LGBTQ people of color and poor LGBTQ people, continue to have their children taken away from them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“As a parent, I have been heartbroken over the separation of young children from their parents as they seek to immigrate to the United States,” said Kristina Wertz, Acting President of Funders for LGBTQ Issues. “The endless assault on immigrants by the Trump Administration has reached a new and outrageous low. In this country we have shameful history of forcefully separating children of color from their parents. The parallels between this heinous act and the struggles of LGBTQ people are clear and I hope our network will support efforts to reunify these families and protect all immigrants – including LGBTQ immigrants – in the months and years ahead. We can stop this inhumane and damaging practice.”

Between the family separations taking place at the border and the Supreme Court decision to uphold the Trump Administration’s Muslim Ban, we know immigrants are under attack. It is our hope that this tragic turn of events will galvanize our members and remind them that philanthropy can always act in the best interest of all people to inspire a better world.

To help grantmakers, we’ve compiled the following list of resources:

• Grantmakers for Immigrant Rights (GCIR) put out a powerful statement in support of children and families seeking refuge in the United States. See the full statement here – and consider joining the nearly 100 foundations who have signed on. Funders for LGBTQ Issues is a proud co-signer.

• The Emergent Fund, a partnership between Solidaire Network, Women Donors Network, Threshold Foundation, and Democracy Alliance, released this comprehensive list of local, statewide, and national migrant rights organizations. Please consider supporting the Emergent Fund or the listed groups directly.

• Consider supporting these queer and trans led organizations working at the front lines of the struggle for dignity for all immigrants:
  •  Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) works to support, empower and connect LGBTQ Muslims.
  •  Transgender Law Center’s Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project addresses the ways in which the LGBTQ community is targeted by the criminal law and immigration enforcement system, and marginalized in the broader migrant community, and racial and economic justice movements.
  • Mijente is working at the front lines with their #FreeOurFuture campaign and is raising money for travel and lodging needs for activists participating in direct actions.

Image note: Photo by Nitish Meena on Unsplash