At the root of our lesbian feminist ethos is a desire to shift power and privilege into the hands of those who are building our movements and transcending traditional power structures. We believe that movements are more powerful when they are intersectional, intergenerational, and inclusive.
Grassroots organizations and LGBTQI activists require more than just campaign-based support. They also need resources to survive, heal, thrive, build power, and make change. Our programs work together to resource our movements in meaningful and sustainable ways that directly respond to the challenges of this political moment.
Guests attend a January 2018 Astraea event in Washington, D.C. Credit: Satsun Photography
This year we:
Supported and participated in the second annual Black Lesbian Conference in New York. Astraea moderated the central plenary alongside other Black lesbian activists, highlighting the importance of building together in the Black lesbian community.
Co-presented a plenary and strategy session about funding cross-issue work against criminalization at the 2018 Funding Forward Conference. We co-organized and moderated a panel on intersectional anti-criminalization grantmaking at the 2018 Neighborhood Funders Group conference.
Advocated with governments and foundations to dramatically increase their support of LGBTQI rights. We advocated in state capitals to engage with the Equal Rights Coalition and new children’s rights funders to ensure that intersex and trans funding stayed firmly on philanthropic agendas. We continued to develop our LBQ philanthropic advocacy project with Mama Cash, building a parallel body of research that will enable us to secure more and better funding.
Launched our Why We Fund series, looking at who, where, and why we fund. We held discussions with donors and grantee partners on intergenerational organizing, healing justice, and our ongoing commitment to supporting intersex organizing.
Supported the development of activist-led funding infrastructure that shifts decision-making power into the hands of activists. by serving on the interim governing body of West Africa’s new Indigenous LGBTQI fund Initiative Sankofa d’Afrique de l’Ouest (ISDAO) and fiscally hosting the global International Trans Fund.
U.S. Fund grantee partners Communities United for Police Reform and Audre Lorde Project in New York City, 2018. Credit: Communities United for Police Reform
One of our U.S. FGF grantee partners is the national organization, Law for Black Lives, a national network of radical lawyers, law students, and legal workers of color committed to building the power of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Formed in the aftermath of the Ferguson and Baltimore uprisings, critical moments within the BLM movement, the group’s belief is that now more than ever it is essential that lawyers, legal workers, organizers, and cultural workers strengthen their connections to continue collaborating in order to increase the impact of their legal, organizing, and advocacy work. Their FGF grant will support a ‘Movement Lawyering Network Gathering’ bringing radical lawyers, legal workers, and cultural workers together for a day of strategizing, skill building, and relationship building to explore ways that media, art, and technology tools can tell compelling client stories, democratize the law, and build stronger alliances outside the legal community.
The intersex flag. Credit: Morgan Carpenter of Intersex Human Rights Australia
Supported by Astraea since 2018
Campaign for Change (CfC) is an intersex-led organization formed in 2016. CfC supports the intersex community in Nepal, helping those in rural and remote areas access healthcare, education, and other services. CfC activists work with the health sector to avoid forced genital mutilation on intersex children. As a result of their advocacy efforts, CfC has seen more increased coordination between community members, stakeholders, and allies and the group has been particularly active in collaborating with national feminist organizations, coordinating with law enforcement agencies, the national Human Rights Commission, media houses, and other human rights defenders in Nepal. In the past year, CfC has built strong relationships in the international arena to advocate for the recognition of intersex human rights, through UN Treaty Bodies (CRC, CEDAW, and UPR), UN agencies (UNDP), and international non profit organizations (ILGA-Asia, Intersex Asia).
Illustration from QAYN’s 2015 magazine, Q-zine. Credit: Queer African Youth Network (QAYN)
Supported by Astraea since since 2013
The Queer African Youth Network (QAYN) is a queer, feminist, women-led network that came together to support the leadership of young LBQ women in West Africa. Their work has grown to focus more broadly on strengthening LGBTQ organizing in West Africa and Cameroon and is holding strong to the support and growth of lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ) women’s leadership, building a base of social justice movement support for LGBTQ issues and promoting a cultural shift, and improving policy and legal environments. They hold space for LBQ leaders to meet, collaborate, and learn in order to build relationships and lay the groundwork for lasting change. Over the last couple of years, QAYN continued with their work to build the institutional capacity of member and non-member organizations and with Astraea’s support, QAYN has recently been able to bolster and strengthen several nascent young LBQT women’s groups in West Africa.
Supported by Astraea since since 1993
allgo activates its local queer People of Color (QPOC) community through intersecting art, health through wellness, and social justice programming. allgo brings a holistic multi-faceted approach to their work by investing not only in community activism, but also highlighting artistic ability, healing, and cultural product as activism. In keeping their work hyper-local and Texas focused, allgo serves as a model for other local groups across the country to commit to increasing social justice awareness. They have doubled down on their efforts to provide community-first spaces, such as artistic showcases and wellness clinics, which continue to sustain multi-issue activism across the state. Astraea supports allgo through our Funding Queerly Giving Circle which is housed at Astraea.
© 2019 Astraea Lesbian Foundation For Justice
