Issue Highlights
Celebrating 50 years of the Endangered Species Act: Chimpanzees
“All of SAFE chimpanzee’s field partners have amazing stories of conservation success to share. For instance, the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project has dismantled thousands of illegally set snare traps within Kibale National Park, leading to a drastic reduction in injuries caused by these snares. Over at the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project, our partners have made immense contributions to the science of sustainable logging.
“However, one of my personal favorite stories of conservation success comes from the Tonkolili Chimpanzee Project. Situated in Sierra Leone, this small, community-based conservation program operates amidst the challenges chimps face in much of West Africa—living in fragmented forests, which means frequent direct contact with local communities.
Branding With Bonobos? A Conservation Fee Might Help Save Them.
Chapron and his colleagues hypothesize that the sheer abundance of animals on screens and billboards causes them to seem much more abundant than they actually are — and this, in turn, makes people complacent about supporting wildlife protection. The team argues that companies whose brands rely on such animals should financially support conservation to compensate for this “lost” conservation funding.
World Bank suspends loans to Uganda
The World Bank has suspended all future loans to the Ugandan government in response to the nation’s recent passage of its harsh Anti-Homosexuality Act, which provides for the death penalty for repeated consensual homosexual activity.
For Pulse Massacre Victims, a New Push for Answers - The New York Times
Now survivors want to know: Were there adequate paths to escape?
LGBTQ Social Justice
A Global 'Anti-Gender' Movement Is Coming for Our Democracy. Here's How We Fight Back. - Ms. Magazine
Crackdowns on LGBTQ rights and abortion access go hand-in-hand. Connecting the dots is not just good policy—it’s a path to victory.
Uganda president defiant after World Bank suspends funding over LGBT law ｜ Reuters
Museveni said that if Uganda needed to borrow, it could tap other sources, and that oil production expected to start by 2025 would provide additional revenues.
Homophobia is neither Christian nor African, says Ugandan reverend
The Rev. Gideon B. Byamugisha, a renowned gay rights advocate who also represents the most at risk people of faith on Uganda’s National Equity Plan Committee, has taken a public stand condemning Ugandan homophobia in all its forms.
U.N. forced to close its Ugandan human rights offices
The closure was prompted by the government’s decision not to renew the host country agreement under which the office operated.
Botswana religious groups threaten rule of law and refuse LGBTQ rights
The call to deny LGBTIQ+ people their rights because of fundamentalist religious beliefs perpetuates inequality and discrimination and sends the message that certain groups of people are less deserving of rights and protections in Botswana.
Focus on Saint Vincent in the Caribbean: 'The laws create a system of homophobia'
Today, six of the twelve Anglophone countries in the Caribbean region continue to criminalize consensual same-sex intimacy. The island country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is one of them.
USAID Releases Historic LGBTQ-Inclusive Development Policy
USAID said that LGBTQ-inclusive development that is locally led helps strengthen livelihoods, economies, and democracies. It’ll serve as a blueprint for bringing queer individuals into the agency’s work on the ground.
What Are the New Guidelines for Gay and Bi Men Donating Blood?
No longer will gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men be discriminated against for their sexual orientation after being banned, in some form, from participating in life-saving blood donation for nearly 40 years. Additionally, no attention is paid to whether somebody is transgender, intersex or gender-nonconforming.
Georgia Teacher Fired for Reading Gender-Inclusive Book Appeals Decision
According to Georgia law, teachers cannot be fired without cause. Three retired school principals will review Rinderle’s case and recommend whether to fire or retain her, but ultimately the school board will decide the educator’s fate.
Florida School District Bans Trans Employees From Using Their Pronouns
As a result of the state’s ‘don’t say gay’ law, a large Florida school district sent out a document on Monday forbidding transgender employees from using their preferred pronouns and forcing them to use group restrooms based on their “biological sex at birth.” Additionally, simply calling a student by a nickname now requires written permission, according to the district. While the pronoun guidance also applies to students, it imposes stiff penalties on faculty and staff who violate it.
Florida youth drive further for gender-affirming care
The study shows that prior to recent restrictions, accessibility to clinics providing gender-affirming care was much higher — in that driving time was only roughly half an hour in Florida. However, following the restrictions, this drive time increased by 8.5 hours, decreasing accessibility.
More than 25% of clinics providing gender-affirming care are located in states with restrictions, according to the research. It is not clear whether existing clinics can meet the needs of out-of-state patients, researchers noted.
Florida GOP Chair Encourages 'Perverted' Don’t Say Gay Opponents to Leave State
a new study showed three out of five parents surveyed in the state have considered leaving since the passage of the “don’t say gay” Parental Rights in Education Act
Great Apes & Gibbons
Speaking to gorillas in the Impenetrable Forest - 60 Minutes - CBS News
Some of the American doctors the 60 Minutes team was with are from an organization called Gorilla Doctors. When they first started monitoring the Impenetrable Forest's gorillas in the 1980s, there were about 250 mountain gorillas. As of last October, there were 459, and the gorilla population is growing.
As Weather Threats Loom, Even Chimps Learn to Shelter in Place - The New York Times
How do you teach 300 chimpanzees to seek safety in a storm? With cowbells, sound machines and a bright orange Frisbee.
Philanthropy
These Two Philanthropic Initiatives Seek to Save Trans Lives Now and Build Support for the Future | Inside Philanthropy
By brokering a connection between the Ford Foundation and the Campaign for Southern Equality — one of the funding intermediaries that make up the greater initiative — the Trans Futures Fund inspired Ford to move $100,000 to the CSE, Lee said. That money is being used to support the campaign’s Southern TransYouth Emergency Project, which provides medical referrals and travel support to families impacted by bans on gender-affirming healthcare. Thanks to the Ford grant, CSE reports that it has been able to expand the project to 12 states. Given the link between hormone-replacement therapy and a decrease in suicide attempts among trans teens, the TransYouth Emergency Project is potentially saving lives among the 80% of trans youth in the South that CSE says are now trapped in states that have banned access to medically approved treatments.
Leadership changes and layoffs by Soros remind us that – like the Gates Foundation – OSF is family philanthropy
What’s happening to the Open Society Foundations? That’s a question likely to be on the minds of people in the philanthropy universe and well beyond.
The Future of Equitable Giving: Understanding and Implementing Trust-Based Philanthropy | Inside Philanthropy
What do foundations need to do to implement trust-based philanthropy? It is helpful to first understand what it is and what it is not.