Where is LGBT funding in the South?

By: Andrew Wallace on November 6, 2016

In 2011 we saw a record-breaking $123 million in grants awarded to LGBTQ issues. However, the U.S. South saw less than $4 million of that historic sum. In fact, the U.S. South barely saw 3% of the year’s LGBTQ funding despite the fact that over a third of the U.S. population lives in the 13 states of the South (as defined by Grantmakers for Southern Progress).

With an estimated 11 million “out” LGBTQ people living in the U.S., foundation funding for LGBTQ issues averages out to $11.20 per LGBTQ person. In the U.S. South, there are an estimated 3,438,872 million “out” LGBTQ denizens, and LGBTQ funding failed to exceed $3 per capita in any Southern state. Only one state, Kentucky, exceeded $2 per capita in LGBTQ funding.

In 2011, funding for LGBTQ issues in the 13 states broke down as follows:

Alabama – $11,250 ($0.08 per capita)

Arkansas – $40,000 ($0.39 per capita)

Florida – $853,364 ($1.26 per capita)

Georgia – $526,783 ($1.52 per capita)

Kentucky – $430,015 ($2.52 per capita)

Louisiana – $214,234 ($1.45 per capita)

Mississippi – $32,434 ($0.42 per capita)

North Carolina – $295,946 ($0.92 per capita)

South Carolina – $148,500 ($1.08 per capita)

Tennessee – $12,900 ($0.08 per capita)

Texas – $1,005,941 ($1.17 per capita)

Virginia – $165,740 ($0.70 per capita)

West Virginia – $40,000 ($0.70 per capita)

Total: $3,777,107

(An average of $1.10 per capita across the 13 Southern states)

At our LGBT Southern Funding Summit in late July, we will be assessing the data shared here as well as a wealth of other information, as a starting point for exploring targeted funding strategies for advancing LGBTQ equality and social change in the region.

Data on LGBTQ funding are drawn from Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ database on LGBTQ grantmaking. Estimates of LGBTQ populations are based on the recent Gallup/Williams Institute estimates of the LGBT population per state.