Why Is This Charitable Fund Dropping LGBTQ+ Giving?
abruptly abandoned the LGBTQ+ movement. This kind of behavior is all too common and when foundations fail to adhere to basic standards they need to be called out.Unfortunately, similar moves by funders are rarely discussed in public.
Why? Foundations are loathe to criticize other foundations and grantees are terrified of speaking up for fear of being labeled troublemakers and being shut out by other foundations.
Fortunately, we are both no longer working in foundation grant making or grant seeking — we don’t have to worry about retribution.For 20 years, Haas had been an exemplar — a non-LGBTQ+ foundation making equality for LGBTQ+ people a priority.
It had been among the top five domestic funders of LGBTQ+ issues during this entire period. Its investments of over $100 million played an important role in overturning the ban on out people serving in the military, repealing anti-LGBTQ+ policies in mainline Protestant denominations, winning marriage equality nationwide, the Supreme Court ruling that LGBT people are protected by Title VII from employment discrimination, and more recently, supporting state-based efforts to extend basic civil rights protections to all LGBTQ+ Americans.
