We are currently conducting a strategic review of our work in Gay and Lesbian Rights and will not be accepting letters of inquiry or proposals from new applicants through 2008.

The Bay Area is home to a strong gay and lesbian community that has provided leadership in the national struggle for equality. Nevertheless, here and across the U.S., gay and lesbian people continue to face censure and discrimination.

The Fund seeks full protection of human and civil rights for gay and lesbian people through strengthening legal rights and protections. In addition, we are committed to securing an equal place for gay and lesbian people and their families in our communities and institutions. We recognize their rights as citizens to live in a safe and supportive environment and to enjoy the benefits of full membership and participation in our communities.

Challenges and Opportunities

The movement for gay and lesbian rights is poised at a crossroads. The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned all remaining state sodomy laws, and Massachusetts has become the first state to permit same-sex marriages. These and other legal successes have set the stage for further progress toward gay equality, and they signal a cultural shift toward integrating lesbians, gay men and their families into mainstream society. In particular, achieving the right to marry opens the door to a vast array of protections, benefits and responsibilities, in ways that civil unions ultimately cannot. Marriage weaves families into the fabric of communities, recognizes their commitment, and bestows the legal rights and social support they need to raise children.

At the same time, a strong conservative backlash threatens to turn back these advances. These developments challenge the marriage movement to shift public opinion by telling the stories of lesbian and gay families harmed because their relationships are not legally recognized.

Funding Priorities

Legal Protections
We support efforts to strengthen legal protection of gay and lesbian people and their families from discrimination and to establish and to uphold gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender-inclusive laws at local, state and federal levels. The Fund supports selected legal work, education of the public and community organizing focused on protections in access to public services, housing and employment, including gay people’s right to serve in the military.

We also support strategies to educate the public about civil marriage for gay and lesbian people, build alliances among gay and non-gay organizations on this issue, and advance local and regional freedom-to-marry organizing in California.

Grants outside California are by invitation only.

Institutional Change
In order to assure equal and fair treatment for gay and lesbian young people and families, it is essential to change the policies and practices of key institutions that serve them, particularly schools and child care centers. We are interested in protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender young people from harassment and violence in public education, especially through programs that implement California's Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act. In pursuit of the same goals, we support work to educate child care workers about gay families’ strengths and the challenges they face, as well as to change practices in child care centers in order to make them welcoming to gay families.

In addition, the Fund is exploring work toward overcoming homophobia in communities
of faith and making congregations welcoming to their lesbian and gay members. This new area includes efforts to reduce the destructive effects of anti-gay religious doctrine, promote connections among lesbian and gay people and their allies of various faith traditions, and build the public voice of a gay-affirming interfaith community.

HIV Prevention
While the Fund generally does not support health-related causes, the HIV epidemic stands apart as a clear and immediate threat to young gay men and people of color. The Fund is interested in programs that integrate culturally sensitive, anti-homophobia education and advocacy into HIV prevention efforts, particularly those targeting communities of color.

Grants in this area are by invitation only.

Two Special Initiatives
The Fund helped launch and continues to be involved in two ambitious initiatives aimed at securing lesbians’ and gay men’s right to marry:

• The Freedom to Marry Collaborative, begun by the Fund, brings together diverse partner organizations across the country both to educate the public and to pursue legal advances toward the right to marry. In addition to playing a crucial role in coordinating a nationwide effort, this collaborative is providing training, counsel and resources to state and local groups. From 2001 to 2006, the Fund has awarded $1.8 to the Freedom to Marry Collaborative.
• The Civil Marriage Collaborative is a new national regranting program supported by six funders. It is directing $1.3 million toward the most promising state-level grassroots advocacy efforts to advance the right to marry by framing public debate. The grants are supporting a variety of programs to educate the lesbian and gay community and the broader public about how marriage discrimination hurts families and children. From 2004 to 2006, the Fund awarded $850,000 to the Civil Marriage Collaborative.