LGBTQ+ groups facing major funding issues amid political attacks, report finds

A worrying new report has revealed the funding issues faced by LGBTQ+ groups amid political attacks on trans rights.

The study, 2023 Resource Tracking Report: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Grantmaking by US Foundations, published last week by Funders for LGBTQ Issues, showed that philanthropic donations to LGBTQ+ communities and causes from foundations based in the US totalled $209.4 million (approximately £168.3 million) in 2023 – a fall of close to $49 million (more than £39 million) compared with the previous year.

When adjusted for inflation, that’s a drop of 22 per cent, the report pointed out, and for every $100 (£80 at the time) donated in 2023, only 20 cents specifically supported LGBTQ+ communities and issues.

“This stark decrease in funding is particularly troubling given the inadequate levels of funding awarded in 2022 to combat the impact of inflation, as well as the persistent legislative attacks and regressive social policies impacting LGBTQ people and their families across the country that continued through 2023,” the report’s authors warned.

“This decrease in funding awarded to support LGBTQ communities and causes impacted almost every sub-sector of LGBTQ philanthropy in 2023 and [probably] hindered the ability of grantees to work toward their missions and hampered their efforts to advance queer liberation.”

In 2022, the top 10 funders gave away $149.2 million ($120.7 million at the time) to domestic LGBTQ+ causes, but only $110.4 million (£88.8 million) in 2023.

Transgender, gender-non-conforming and non-binary people or causes received around 17 per cent of all funding while gay/queer men were allocated four per cent and lesbian/queer women and bisexual people got less than one per cent, the research revealed. There was no allocation specifically for asexual people.

“The lack of substantial dedicated funding for asexual people, bisexual people and queer women contributes to the erasure of the specific needs of these communities, which is a trend that has persisted in recent resource tracking data,” the report read.

The majority of LGBTQ+ grant funding for communities of colour was not awarded to a specific racial or ethnic group, but for queer communities of colour more generally.

“The decrease in specific funding for Black LGBTQ communities and causes in 2023 coincided with the decrease in funding for LGBTQ communities of colour generally that year – a concerning trend given the murders of Black trans women across the country and the persistent… white supremacy ingrained in our society,” the report went on to say.

In a foreword to the report, Funders for LGBTQ Issues president Saida Agostini Bostic said it was pertinent that the report was “released in a time of escalating attacks on civil society and democratic infrastructures to devastating effect both in the US and around the world”.

She went on to say: “While we will not have data on 2025 giving for two more years, the trends identified in 2023 illustrate a portrait of progressive philanthropic investment in decline. As we move into a new political landscape, with marked hostility towards progressive philanthropy, this report offers a path forward.

“As Funders for LGBTQ Issues noted in its message to members after the November 2024 elections, we call on institutions to recognise the great power they hold, and use it in service of resourcing our movements, rather than backing away.

“The latest trends beg the following questions: If not now, when? If not us, who?

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