In early 2024, Matthew Hart glanced next elections worldwide And worried that the results do not seem promising.
“What we knew was that the winds were not in our favor. Winds were not in our candle, and we saw worldwide a kind of moral panic,” said Hart, executive director of the global philanthropy project, a network of financiers for people LGBTQ+ internationally.
The growing authoritarianism and the political movements motivated religiously mixed in a “toxic mixture” that regularly addresses trans people, intersex and homosexuals, they said in an interview with Associated Press.
Hart was one of the philanthropic leaders who tried to prepare not only for changes under the Trump administration, but also in growth. Trends towards autocracy and repressions in human rights worldwide.
As a result, last year, the global philanthropy project silently launched a campaign called “melt our future” to raise money for LGBTQ+ organizations worldwide. In November, they announced that they had obtained more than $ 100 million and since then they have raised the bar to try to bring another $ 50 million. The donors will grant the funds in the next three to five years and GPP will track their commitments.
While few anticipated the speed and amplitude of the Trump administration policy changesHart had seen the financiers deal with fear and paralysis in times of crisis.
“There is a story in philanthropy that you expect and see. What will happen?” Hart said. “We think, ‘Oh, we have to get ahead of this. Because if we do not ensure the commitments now, we are talking about two years of internal philanthropic field work that should be done.”
Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for effective philanthropy, said that early preparation will allow financiers to identify and support organizations aligned with their objectives. But he said, no financier can expect to be always accurate in his forecast.
“The preparation is really important,” he said, “and then also, so the context looks different from what you prepared.”
For example, few financiers contemplated the Wholesale termination of most foreign aid of the United StatesWhat has he had vast effects and cascade in organizations in each geography and theme. Trump highlighted bases with great endowments for research in one of his Executive orders in Diversity, equity and inclusion and in a Memo in FebruaryHe accused many non -profit organizations that have received federal funds to participate “in actions that actively undermine the security, prosperity and security of the US people.”
The financiers who support the movements of democracy in inhospitable environments have some experience adapting to this type of threats. Even so, Kellea Miller, executive director of the Human Rights Founders, said they were surprised by surprise.
“There are areas that Trump has quickly changed that we knew that it would touch, but the scale and speed are beyond what most of us had imagined,” he said, added that he had waited more action from the congress.
As of 2021, HRFN convened the financiers to coordinate their responses to crises such as the Haiti presidential murder and the UU Retirement of Afghanistan. Those conversations became a frame called Better preparationthat encourages the bases to consider before a crisis how they want to react.
“Therefore, not all are financing the same groups and that we can also distribute the risk and appetite of risk in a way that we cannot if we are not honest and working together,” said Miller.
Miller now said in the United States, the financatives of democracy and the movements of human rights concern that the Trump administration will threaten its ability to operate.
“Many bases are very, very cautious at this time because they are worried that their assets can freeze. They are worried that they will be politically attacked,” he said.
The commitments to the fund of our futures campaign represent a notable part of the funds for groups that serve gay people, transgender and intersexual worldwide Even when some government funds have been removed.
In 2021-2022, private philanthropy and donor governments together gave together $ 905 million To these groups, according to GPP’s most recent research.
Of that total, 20 foundations only gave $ 522 million, or around 50% of the total, highlighting the importance of these private donations to support international communities LGBTQ+. Sixteen multilateral governments and donors gave $ 175 million to LGBTQ+groups, being the largest funder in the Netherlands.
As part of its dramatic reduction in foreign aid of the United States, the Trump administration has also ended its policy of supporting the rights of LGBTQ+ people abroad, which the Biden administration had made a priority. In an output note As of January, Usaid Bajo Biden staff wrote that the agency increased the financing of programs for LBGTQ+ communities abroad from $ 6 million in 2021 to $ 25 million in 2024.
The Netherlands and another great financier of the LGBTQ+communities, Sweden, recently announced their foreign assistance. Canada, which is another important financier, until now has not changed its commitments.
Even with the new resources in process, the cuts of government financiers have significantly interrupted groups that serve the LGBTQ+communities, Hart said. In his opinion, every philanthropic dollar they can raise will help save the lives of trans, intersex and homosexual people worldwide, which will be under a greater attack as support for democracy fails more widely.
“Gender justice, feminist movements, freedom of movement and LGBTI people are being attacked at the same time,” Hart said. “That is a fundamental interruption for some of the basic principles of how modern democracy would work.”
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