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LGBTQ+ Equality

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We envision a U.S. South where LGBTQ+ people can safely and authentically pursue full lives, free of discrimination. To achieve this, LGF employs multiple strategies and invests in everything from direct services to direct action. We recognize that racism pervades the LGBTQ+ community just as it does every aspect of American culture and life. Therefore, LGF prioritizes support for solutions that are led by and center Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities.

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OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE LGBTQ+ EQUALITY IN THE SOUTH

The South is home to a plethora of resilient, visionary, and inspired communities and organizations that are primed for resourcing from progressive foundations, such as LGF and its regranting partners. Year after year, they face waves of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and a rise of hate and far-right movements. This challenging context exemplifies the need to invest in Southern LGBTQ+ communities.

In 2013, the Foundation Funding for LGBTQ Issues in the U.S. South report from Funders for LGBTQ Issues found that the U.S. South received nearly 1/10th of LGBTQ+ foundation support when compared to other regions. Since that time, through initiatives driven by a collective of funders including LGF, funding for LGBTQ+ issues in the South has more than quintupled – yet the region continues to lag in funding per LGBTQ+ adult.

CURRENT GRANTEES

OUR
FUNDING PRIORITIES

Direct service

Providing LGBTQ+ communities with physical space and services to meet their unique and varied needs, including operating a community center, and providing housing for adults and youth experiencing homelessness, case management services, physical and mental health services, food, mutual aid, and gender-affirming clothing, to name a few.

Policy advocacy

Working with policymakers and legislators, and local, county, state, regional, and national levels to change policies that negatively impact LGBTQ+ communities. Specifically, working on anti-discrimination protections in every state and at the federal level.

Community organizing

Building the leadership capability and civic engagement capacity of working people is essential to promoting the interests of any community; this in turn offers opportunities to develop community-based power rooted in a strong political analysis that encompasses an intersecting racial and gender justice lens.

OUR APPROACH

Relationships move at the speed of trust: our grantmaking focuses on developing authentic, not transactional relationships. Our approach focuses on:

MULTIPLE, INCLUSIVE STRATEGIES

We support what works for LGBTQ+ communities, including direct service, policy advocacy, community organizing, and changing hearts and minds.

PRIORITIZING EQUITY & COMMUNITIES

We prioritize funding for groups that are have Black, Indigenous, and people of color leadership at all levels of the organizational structure and hold clear accountability structures to communities.

BUILDING CAPACITY

We support capacity building by funding our grantee partners to engage in work such as leadership coaching, board development, racial equity, fundraising, and peer learning.

ALIGNING FUNDING PARTNERS TO STRENGTHEN NETWORKS

We collaborate with other funders to increase funding access and support intermediary grantmakers to reach emerging leaders organizations representing impacted frontline communities in the South.  

INVESTING REGIONALLY IN THE SOUTH/SOUTHEAST

We prioritize NC and VA based organizations and we fund work that supports the entire U.S. Southeast.

OUR IMPACT

Since 2013, we have partnered with 42 organizations in the South and have moved $9,846,000 in funding to support grantees, primarily in North Carolina and Virginia. Through the visionary and resilient work of organizations throughout the South, we have seen great strides towards a vision of lived equality.

By partnering and working alongside exemplary organizations and funders, we hope to expand the financial resources going to LGBTQ+ communities in the South and contribute to the building of a region where LGBTQ+ people can safely and authentically pursue full lives.

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LATEST NEWS

Laughing Gull Foundation Commits $1.9 Million in Grants to Organizations Advancing Justice for LGBTQ Southerners

We are not currently accepting applications, but you may email a one-page introduction to introductions@laughinggull.org to share information about your work.

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