News

This past week, the eyes of the nation have turned to Indiana, where Governor Mike Pence recently signed a bill purportedly intended to protect religious freedom. In reality, the bill was crafted and advanced by individuals who want to pull back our recent progress toward equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. The language of “religious freedom” is a smokescreen to allow people and businesses to discriminate against LGBT people. Unfortunately, this problem is not limited to Indiana. As of this writing, a similar bill is advancing in Arkansas, and “religious freedom restoration” bills are on the table […]

This year, for the first time at Funding Forward we’re excited to hold a plenary on marriage equality. Over the years, several trailblazing foundations have taken bold steps to support the movement for same sex-marriage – affecting the lives of millions of LGBTQ couples and families across the country. Thanks to the work of hundreds of committed advocates and dedicated philanthropic supporters, 37 states and the District of Columbia now have the freedom to marry. We’re looking forward to featuring some of the top funders on this issue at Funding Forward. From 2004 – 2013, funding for marriage equality efforts […]

We have an incredible slate of speakers lined up for this year’s Funding Forward in Atlanta, GA. To help you get ready for the conversations at our annual conference of grantmakers committed to LGBTQ issues, we thought we would compile some pre-readings. Enjoy! (See the full Funding Forward schedule here.) Out in the South: Assets and Opportunities More than one in three LGBTQ Americans live in the U.S. South and LGBTQ Southern communities are more likely to live in hostile environments, face discrimination, live in poverty, and experience health disparities than their peers in other regions of the country. Thursday’s […]

Black History Month provides the perfect opportunity to honor Black leaders and celebrate Black communities. In recent months, the #BlackLivesMatter movement has shone an important spotlight on discriminatory policing and its impact on black communities and low-income communities of color. LGBTQ people and people living with HIV/AIDS, particularly trans women of color, are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system. With increased media attention, the question of how communities can address abusive policing is of increasing interest to both the general public and funders. For the first time in 2014, Funders for LGBTQ Issues began tracking funding that addresses the […]