New Report on LGBTQ Funding for the U.S. South

Feb 1, 2014
Gay Media & Press Network

(GayWebSource.com – Gay Media & Press Network) – Posted by Michael Lamb – Echelon Magazine

Funders for LGBTQ Issues has released a new report entitled Out in the South: Building Resources for LGBTQ Advancement in the U.S. South – Part One: Foundation Funding for LGBTQ Issues in the U.S. South. The report debuted yesterday before a cadre of Southern-based LGBTQ movement leaders convened at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s annual conference on LGBT equality, Creating Change. This report finds that while more LGBT adults live in the South than in any other region of the country, the South only receive 3-4 percent of domestic funding for LGBTQ issues.

Out in the South: Building Resources for LGBTQ Advancement in the U.S. South – Part One: Foundation Funding for LGBTQ Issues in the U.S. South (2014) explores the underfunding of LGBTQ communities in the U.S. South in comparison to the rest of the country.  The report identifies who is funding in the South, and examines the issues and strategies currently being funded.

The report finds that between 2011-2012, LGBTQ domestic funding averaged $5.78 per LGBT adult.  While the Northeast received an average of $10.10 per LGBT adult, the South only received $1.71 per LGBT adult.

Some highlights from the report include:

  • Of the estimated 8 million “out” LGBT adults, nearly 2.7 million LGBT adults live in the South.
  • In 2011-2012 LGBTQ funding for the South totaled $9.2 million, by comparison, in 2012 alone New York City received $10 million for local advocacy and services.
  • Only two Southern cities were home to organizations receiving more than $1 million in LGBTQ funding – Houston and Atlanta.
  • In comparison to the rest of LGBTQ domestic funding, health issues receive a larger percentage of Southern funding, while civil rights receive a much smaller percentage.
  • While advocacy work is the predominant strategy of supported by LGBTQ funding overall, in the South, direct services receive more funding than advocacy work.
  • 47 percent of LGBTQ funding in the South comes from Southern-based funders; the other 53 percent comes from funders based outside the South.

“This report is part of the LGBT Southern Funding Project, and builds on a funder summit we convened on these very issues last summer in Charlotte,” said Ben Francisco Maulbeck, President of Funders for LGBTQ Issues. “This is only one step in a longer effort to facilitate research, dialogue, and action around increasing philanthropic resources for the LGBT South.”

The LGBT Southern Funding Project aims to expand the scale and impact of funding for LGBTQ communities in the U.S. South.

The report also includes an infographic that visually summarizes the findings. Both the infographic and full report are now available for download at www.lgbtfunders.org.

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