LGBTQ activist organizations in the South received $500,000 in donor money in 2022 through a project called “Out in the South.”
Out in the South (OTS), “an initiative of Funders for LGBTQ Issues, aims to transform philanthropy in the U.S. South to honor the fact that LGBTQ people and families are a part of every community in the region.”
OTS says its focus is to “work to increase philanthropic resources that support a healthy ecosystem of LGBTQ organizations in the U.S. South” and to “reverse the historical trend of underinvestment in LGBTQ communities in the U.S. South.” The $500,000 went to organizations in various southern states for LGBT activism.
OTS has been giving grants to organizations since at least 2016. The website reveals that in 2016, 2017, and 2018, OTS gave $50,000 to the Appalachian Community Fund’s LGBT Fund, a Tennessee-based group that also operates in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. In 2016, the grant went to “expand an LGBTQ fund serving rural Appalachia … with a focus on engaging young people.”
OTS is also a consistent patron of the Southern Vision Alliance’s “Queer Mobilization Fund,” which goes towards “QTPOC grassroots organizing.” The acronym stands for queer, transgender, people of color.
The Southern Vision Alliance received $75,000 in 2022, with $50,000 of that sum going towards the Queer Mobilization Fund, which operates in both North Carolina and South Carolina. The group has received support from OTS every single year since 2017.
The organization, which focuses largely on building “organizational capacity,” explains:
The Queer Mobilization Fund is a grassroots community re-granting fund of the Southern Vision Alliance prioritizing & supporting queer and trans BIPOC on the frontlines of struggles for freedom and liberation to build power for and within queer communities in the South.
The Black Belt Community Foundation received $25,000 in 2022 to “provide capacity building funds in support of a Black-led community foundation in Selma, AL to integrate LGBTQ issues into their grantmaking.”
There is also CoThinkk, which received $25,000 in 2022 to “provide capacity building and matching funds for this Western NC based POC-led community organizing and grantmaking organization to integrate LGBTQ issues into their work.”
Another $50,000 was given to the Southern Equality Fund to “provide capacity building and matching grant funds for the Southern Equality Fund, which supports Southern LGBTQ grassroots organizing efforts.” The Texas Pride Impact Funds was given yet another $50,000 grant, which similarly served to “provide matching and capacity building funds for an LGBTQ fund in Texas informed by a needs assessment supported during our first year of grantmaking.”
Several different foundations and organizations collaborated to provide money to these organizations through OTS. The Ford Foundation, which Breitbart News reported has spent more than $100 million in support of amnesty and mass immigration, was listed as one of the major backers of OTS.
The Arcus Foundation, a major financial supporter of transgenderism, is also listed as an OTS supporter. The Arcus Foundation was founded by John Stryker. Stryker, who is the board president, is worth $4.3 billion and inherited stock in Stryker Corp, which sold a whopping $14.4 billion in medical equipment in 2020.
Other major backers are the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, the Foundation for a Just Society, and the Tzedek Social Justice Fund, among others.
Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com.
