Issue Highlights
Joy in Namibia as court decriminalizes gay sex
Court ruling drops the total of nations outlawing gay sex to 64
Ten Questions for Saida Agostini-Bostic, President of Funders for LGBTQ Issues | Inside Philanthropy
IP spoke with Saida about her background, work and hopes for philanthropy. Here are some excerpts from the conversation, edited for length and clarity.
Funders for LGBTQ Issues' Latest Grantmaking Report Details the "Ground We’re Afraid to Lose" | Inside Philanthropy
2022 Resource Tracking Report, revealing a static or effectively shrinking level of funding for queer groups in the face of a continuing, multipronged attack on LGBTQ Americans’ rights. While the absolute giving number in 2022 increased by 3%, or $6.9 million, from 2021’s record high of $251 million, 2022’s 8% inflation rate meant that grantmaking effectively decreased that year. Additionally, the field’s top five institutional donors decreased their actual giving by a collective $20 million.
Toward nimble and creative funding for LGBTQ communities
While we’re heartened by the overall growth in funding—both cumulatively and year-over-year—we know that the increase in total funding doesn’t tell the whole story. Here’s why:
A Pride Month Call to Action: Highlighting the Less Positive Experiences of LGBTQ+ Grantees | The Center for Effective Philanthropy
So, every funder should be concerned that LGBTQ+ identified grant recipients have significantly less positive experiences with and perceptions of their funders than their straight peers do — at least as measured through response to CEP’s Grantee Perception Report (GPR) surveys.
LGBTQ Social Justice
In Bukele's El Salvador, shrinking space for sexual diversity
Before he was elected the first time in 2019, Bukele claimed to support the demands of the LGBTQ community.
Now, he describes them as "unnatural, anti-God, anti-family," said Luis Chavez, the gay pastor at the Santa Maria Magdalena Community church, which was set up a few years ago and operates out of an NGO-owned house.
Malawi court refuses to overturn anti-LGBTQ+ laws
High Court says it’s up to Parliament to repeal anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
Congo-Kinshasa: Alarming crackdown on homosexuality spreads throughout the country
He demands ‘repression’ although the nation has no law against same-sex intimacy.
LGBTQ Kenyans join protests against controversial tax bill
GALCK, which is a coalition of 16 LGBTQ rights groups, while supporting the anti-tax protests and the participation of their members stated that the Finance Bill “disproportionately burdens Kenyans and threatens our most vulnerable communities including the LGBTQ+ individuals.”
“For LGBTQ+ Kenyans who often face additional healthcare challenges, these taxes pose a significant barrier,” GALCK said in a statement.
Martinique : Christian lesbian testifies undeniable progress
the tense relationship between the Catholic Church and the LGBTQ community
Biden Administration Opposes Surgery for Transgender Minors - The New York Times
The statement followed a report in The Times that a federal health official had urged the removal of age minimums from treatment guidelines for transgender minors.
White House issues follow-up statement after criticism over position on gender-affirming care for youth
“We continue to fight state and national bans on gender-affirming care, which represents a continuum of care, and respect the role of parents, families, and doctors — not politicians — in these decisions,” Tanden said, according to The Advocate. “Gender-affirming surgeries are typically reserved for adults, and we believe they should be.”
Biden pardons veterans convicted under military's ban on gay sex
Biden's clemency will extend to thousands of former military service members who were convicted of the former Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 125 while it was in effect from the 1950s to 2013.
Supreme Court to decide whether states can restrict gender-affirming care for minors | CNN Politics
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the Biden administration’s challenge to a transgender care ban in Tennessee, delving into the complicated and politically fraught issue of gender-affirming care in a substantive way for the first time.
New Study Finds That the Majority of Black Americans Support Black LGBTQ+ Rights | Them
In what is believed to be a first-of-its-kind study, the National Black Justice Coalition polled Black registered voters in the U.S. to determine whether they are accomplices, allies, or opponents of Black LGBTQ+ people.
New Report: State Court LGBTQ+ Representation Has Long Road Ahead - Alliance for Justice
Alliance for Justice announces the release of a special report, The Faces of Justice Volume 3: LGBTQ+ State Supreme Court Justices. This report is the third installment in a series dedicated to showcasing the important role of diversity in the justice system.
Religious gays are showing their spiritual Pride to support Queer Youth of Faith Day - Queerty
one in five LGBTQ+ youths said that religious or spirituality is important or very important to them, and nearly one in four reported engaging in prayer, meditation, or private reflection on their religion on at least a weekly or daily basis. And in a heartening sign, LGBTQ+ youth who rated religion or spirituality as important or very important reported significantly lower rates of symptoms of depression compared to other LGBTQ+ youth.
Drag worship: Where queer faith and performance collide
Once relegated exclusively to gay bars and nightclubs, drag is increasingly in the open these days — at libraries, music festivals and, yes, churches.
GLAD Announces Ricardo Martinez as Incoming Executive Director - GLAD
Current CEO of Equality Texas will bring battle-tested leadership experience to one of the nation’s foremost LGBTQ+ litigation organizations at a pivotal moment in the fight to secure civil rights protections for queer and transgender people and families
The Trevor Project hires Jaymes Black as new CEO
Jaymes Black, the former president and CEO of Family Equality, will take over at The Trevor Project on July 15, becoming the organization’s first Black and first non-binary CEO.
DeSantis Vetoes All Arts Grants in Florida - The New York Times
Gov. Ron DeSantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers.
Great Apes & Gibbons
Africa’s great ape sanctuaries are feeling the heat from climate change
Sanctuaries across Africa are affected by changing weather patterns, including both droughts and floods, increasing the challenges of caring for resident apes.
How Rebuilding Forests Helped Pangolins, Orangutans and People - The New York Times
The land bordered Gunung Palung National Park, home to endangered orangutans, pangolins, white-bearded gibbons and macaques, and researchers wanted to see if wildlife was coming back.
Ugandan chimps are eating bat guano, raising concerns over human epidemics
fter analyzing samples, scientists found that the guano not only held high concentrations of minerals but was also full of viruses, including a cousin to SARS-CoV-2.
Ham the Astrochimp: Unwilling Simian Pioneer in the Space Race » Explorersweb
Ham survived a 250-kilometer-high Mach 7 flight that spiraled out of its planned path and almost killed him. At three-and-a-half years old, he became an incidental hero while still technically an infant.
Philanthropy
“We Can Still Be Hopeful.” Talking Trans Funding with Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ Alexander Lee | Inside Philanthropy
a conversation with Lee about topics including funders’ responses to the ongoing right-wing campaign against LGBTQ and particularly transgender individuals’ rights, the impact of tensions within the wider LGBTQ movement on grantmaking, and why he feels that funding intermediaries are essential to the success of so many queer groups.
Elon Musk could avert global species extinction with only a portion of his wealth
Protecting the majority of species would cost approximately $34 billion per year — 0.03% of global GDP and less than 2% of environmentally harmful subsidies provided by governments annually (such as those to fossil fuel industries), or around 16% of Elon Musk’s current net worth.
Tracking Green Regrantors: Eight Major Conservation Regrantors Based in the Global North | Inside Philanthropy
Conservation funds focused on the Global South, particularly those emphasizing Indigenous peoples, land rights and forest protection.
Facing Threats to Racial Equity Work, Borealis’ REACH Fund Continues Consistent, Steady Approach | Inside Philanthropy
With 10 new backers and a long-term commitment to transforming the sector, this fund providing nonprofits with racial equity training has the potential for impact well beyond what would seem possible given its limited budget.
Elections Are Coming, and the Time for Funders to Act Is Now | The Center for Effective Philanthropy
how can foundations support their grantees as they look to ensure that all eligible voices are heard during the 2024 general election? Luckily, they have a number of options.
Why Ford Foundation President Darren Walker thinks more people need to talk about antisemitism
When you run an organization focused on promoting social justice, but with the namesake of one of the most virulent antisemites in American history, you have to talk about the uncomfortable history.
Making It Count: Expanding the Ford Foundation’s Diversity Data Collection Beyond the United States | The Center for Effective Philanthropy
For some of the regions where we fund, we began collecting data on race/ethnicity in a way that would be meaningful locally. For those regions where race and ethnicity data was less meaningful, we began collecting data on more locally relevant categories of identity.
Demographic data dos and don’ts for funders
While this data is valuable, it represents a significant burden for nonprofits and, as a result, funders also want to make these processes as efficient as possible for all concerned.
What do we know about LGBTQIA+ nonprofit leaders and staff?
a closer look at what Candid’s The state of diversity in the U.S. nonprofit sector report, released in May, suggests about the representation and visibility of LGBTQIA+ individuals among nonprofit staff and leadership.