In 2006 less than
9% of total funding for LGBT issues went to groups that
work with blacks, Latinos, and other people of color. Conn
Corrigan finds out why -- and what’s being done
to resolve the imbalance
The Christopher
Street pier is a favorite hangout for many gay youths of
color in New York City -- a place they can “truly be
themselves,” as the narrator of the documentary
Fenced Out puts it. The film, produced in 2001 by a
small LGBT nonprofit called FIERCE, is a major part of the
group’s campaign to save the pier from
Manhattan’s relentless redevelopment. Another
FIERCE initiative? Training LGBT kids of color to be
strong advocates for their rights through workshops on
political education and activism.
But
FIERCE’s work requires money, and securing funding is
“challenging,” says its executive
director, Rickke Mananzala. “Some philanthropic
foundations choose not to support us because we don’t
neatly fit into an LGBT issue or people-of-color
issue,” he says. Many of the larger grant
makers are “invite-only,” and FIERCE is
“very much outside of their scope.”
According to a
new report, that’s often the case for groups that
help gay people of color. In its “report
card” on race released this month, the
philanthropic research organization Funders for Lesbian and
Gay Issues reveals that only 8.8% of all funding for
LGBT causes in 2006 went to groups targeting people of
color like FIERCE -- even though blacks, Latinos,
biracial people, and other minorities make up at least one
quarter of the U.S. population, according to the 2006
Census. Out of 19 prominent foundations reviewed --
whether LGBT-specific ones like the David Geffen
Foundation or ones with broader missions such as the David
Bohnett Foundation, which finances social activism in
general -- only nine awarded grants for race-related
issues in 2006. Of the 10 who didn’t award a
single grant to people-of-color groups that year, four
hadn’t awarded any grants at all to these
groups in the preceding five years.
Svati Shah, a
specialist in race, sexuality, and gender at New York
University, says the report should be a “wake-up
call” for foundations. “Many of them
need to realize that the groups they are funding may be
predominantly white,” says Shah, who has been an
adviser to Funders.
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