Archives: Stories

Indigenous land is Indigenous heritage.

In the fight for Indigenous sovereignty, 2SLBTQI+, racial, gender, economic, and reproductive justice are all deeply interconnected. Through the Astraea Foundation’s U.S. Fund, we support Indigenous-led groups that seek to reclaim culture while stewarding land and its connection to the climate.

We are proud to collaborate with Ojibwe Two-Spirit graphic designer Neebinnaukzhik Southall for Native American Heritage Month. To learn more about their work, visit neebin.com and follow @neebinstudios ​​​​​​​on Instagram.

As we close out Native American Heritage Month in the United States and its claimed territories, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice would like to take a moment to reflect on the history of Thanksgiving and honor Indigenous communities that continue to shape and sustain our world today. While Thanksgiving is often associated with family gatherings and expressions of gratitude, we also recognize that for many Indigenous peoples, it is a reminder of on-going colonization, displacement, and loss. 

At the Astraea Foundation, we stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities and, as a U.S.-based remote organization, acknowledge that the land we occupy is the ancestral home of diverse Indigenous peoples, whose history, culture, and resistance have been vital in shaping the world we live in.  

In the fight for Indigenous sovereignty, 2SLBTQI+, racial, gender, economic, and reproductive justice are all deeply interconnected. Through the Astraea Foundation’s U.S. Fund, we support Indigenous-led groups that seek to reclaim culture while stewarding land and its connection to the climate. Indigenous land is Indigenous heritage, which is why our U.S. Fund supports the reclamation of Indigenous heritage and community building through closer relationships with land. 

As we take a brief pause for Thanksgiving break, we encourage everyone to reflect on ways to support Indigenous-led movements, recognize Indigenous land, and amplify Indigenous voices in our ongoing work for liberation. 

Protect Trans Generations

On Trans Day of Remembrance, the Astraea Foundation honors those lost to anti-trans violence and reaffirms our commitment to protecting generations of trans communities through solidarity, advocacy, and healing.

This Trans Day of Remembrance, we are proud to collaborate with Emulsify. To learn more about their work, please visit their website and follow them @emulsify.art on Instagram. 

Today the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice honors the memory of trans and nonbinary people who have been lost to anti-trans violence in all its forms. Since the Trans Murder Monitoring (TMM) project began tracking violence against trans people in 2008, over 5,000 deaths have been recorded. May their loss not be in vain. By increasing awareness of their loss, we are reminded of our collective responsibility to protect present and future trans generations.  

For communities to move forward, we must make time for mourning. Trans Day of Remembrance is an opportunity for us to heal and honor the memory of those lost to anti-trans violence, and it has succeeded in bringing the epidemic of violence against Black trans women to widespread public attention. Yet we must remain vigilant. 

According to 2024 data from TMM, at least 350 trans and gender diverse people have been lost to violence across the world this year. 94% of those reported murdered were trans women and trans feminine people, and 93% were trans people affected by racism – Black, brown, Indigenous, and people of color. Since violence against the trans community is underreported, misreported, and ignored, these numbers are likely higher. 

Community is our greatest strength and is essential to trans survival. Trans people have always found each other. Increased visibility, affirmation, and protection for trans people will allow our communities to grow stronger, truly heal, and thrive. 

Astraea Foundation grantee partners in all parts of the globe continue to work on the front lines for a future where we can all be our authentic selves. The healing, advocacy, and work we do every day is vital, and the uncertainty of the political moment only strengthens our resolve to keep the fight moving forward for trans generations to come. Together, we can build a future where every trans generation is protected and celebrated. 

Centering Queer Safety and Security

The Astraea Foundation will be examining queer safety and security through the end of the year, exploring its need, potential, and future. Will you step up to support the holistic security of the Astraea Foundation’s grantee partners today?  

I have spent most of the last few months thinking and learning about the safety and security of our communities. My thoughts seem to be coming from a place of fear and anxiety, perhaps because of the visceral desire to have some kind of action plan amidst uncertainty and chaos. Among the many thoughts and feelings, I have been dwelling on the questions: 

  • What do queer safety and security look like in practice? 
  • What do queer safety and security feel like to me?

Queer safety and security are defined by freedom. Not only are queer safety and security defined by being free from threats and dangers, they are also grounded in the freedom to choose how we want to live our lives. The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice grounds our work in pursuit of liberation so that protection and safety work is not an end in itself, but it facilitates our communities’ joy, choice, and connection.  

Expressing our whole selves is intrinsic to queer safety and security. We feel safe and secure when all parts of us are recognized and protected. Each of us faces threats and dangers in all realms of our lives, including physical, psychological, digital, structural, financial, and relational ones. The Astraea Foundation recognizes that the solutions we support must use a holistic security approach that considers how all these realms are interrelated. Queer safety and security consider who we are as people and how we fit within our communities.

Community is essential to queer safety and security. Typical discussions about protection and safety tend to isolate a person, assuming that extracting a person out of a dangerous situation is sufficient. The Astraea Foundation’s deep experience supporting grassroots organizations and activists shows that those who are deeply connected with their past and deeply rooted in their communities are far more resilient and capable of navigating hostile environments and political volatility. A holistic approach to security is central to the maintenance of our collective well-being, as harm against marginalized groups is always part of a larger social context. Queer communities have been fostering holistic security through the creation of safe spaces since their inception, and, in increasingly hostile environments, the cultivation of safe spaces is a political act that strengthens our movements.

The Astraea Foundation will be examining queer safety and security through the end of the year, exploring its need, potential, and future. Will you step up to support the holistic security of the Astraea Foundation’s grantee partners today?  

In Solidarity,

Joy Chia (she/her) | Executive Director

Give today

Statement from Executive Director, Joy Chia

In the face of my fears and grief for the inevitable upcoming chaos, I keep returning to the one thing that grounds all our work at the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice: community.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you are able to rest and take care of yourselves and your loved ones today.

I woke up this morning with the results of the U.S. elections —and the long months of disinformation, hateful rhetoric, and violence—weighing heavily on my heart. I imagine that, like me, many of us are facing the day with great trepidation and dread – we don’t know what exactly lies ahead but instability, conflict, and unrest seem to be in the cards.

In the face of my fears and grief for the inevitable upcoming chaos, I keep returning to the one thing that grounds all our work at the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice: community.

I am filled with deep gratitude that every day I get to work at the Astraea Foundation, to work towards advancing justice for all, and moving resources to the most imperiled among us. I am proud that I lead a fund that is centered on our LGBTQI+ communities, and that our communities and our shared values will continue to ground our work even as authoritarianism thrives in fear and chaos. I take the dangers facing LGBTQI+ communities very seriously, and we are prepared. Now is the time for us to pool our energies and take action.

As a funder of LGBTQI+ communities in all regions of the world, the Astraea Foundation is keenly aware of the far-reaching impacts that this election will have and has already had. I also recognize that political repression is not new to LGBTQI+ activists and our communities. This isn’t our first time working in hostility and chaos, and we are ready to resist.

The Astraea Foundation will continue to work alongside grantees to build power and create sustainable change so that our communities can thrive. We will continue to push liberation forward, support our grantee partners, and hold true to our intersectional feminist values at every turn. The work we do every day is vital, and this difficult moment only strengthens our resolve to keep the fight moving forward.

I am deeply thankful for your steadfast support, dedication, and commitment to the Astraea Foundation’s mission. We will only get through the coming years together, and I’m ready to fight with you for progress, no matter what the future may bring.

With uncertainty and rising challenges ahead, we rely on you, our community, more than ever. Thank you for your support.  

In Solidarity,

Joy Chia

Executive Director

New Report on LGBTQI+ Organizing in Southwest Asia and North Africa

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice supports research to facilitate connections between LGBTQI+ activists, funders, and community. Our publications take activist-identified priorities and regional contexts to support a better understanding of how to direct funding priorities in a specific area or context. In our new report, LGBTQI+ activists in the Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region share the mounting challenges they face and offer key insights for donors and supporters. 

Insight and Perspectives for Donors, Funders, and Activists 

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice supports research to facilitate connections between LGBTQI+ activists, funders, and community. Our publications take activist-identified priorities and regional contexts to support a better understanding of how to direct funding priorities in a specific area or context. In our new report, “Regional Analysis of LGBTQI+ Organizing in Southwest Asia and North Africa” researchers Nora Noralla and Lamyaâ Achary share the mounting challenges that activists face and offer key insights for donors and supporters. 

LGBTQI+ groups in the Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region have been working on local, national, and regional levels, often navigating anti-LGBTQI+ sentiment and legal frameworks that outlaw their existence and activities. To better support this important work, Noralla and Achary engaged with 36 different organizations from seven countries in the SWANA region (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Lebanon, and Kuwait). Drawing from the activists’ perspectives and analysis of the legal, social, religious, and political contexts, the research team compiled clear recommendations for donors operating in the SWANA region.

Read full report

As part of our commitment to language justice, condensed report findings are available as both Executive Summary and Highlights in English, Spanish, and French under Publications.

Thank you to the researchers, Nora Noralla and Lamyaâ Achary, the contributing activists and organizations, and our generous donors for making this research possible. 

Let Intersex Bodies Be!

What is intersex bodily autonomy?

Today is Intersex Awareness Day, and the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is proud to uplift and honor our intersex grantee partners around the globe. After years of disruption due to COVID-19, the intersex community is ready to regroup, synchronize strategies, and strengthen locally and globally. 

What’s Intersex Bodily Autonomy? 

Intersex is an umbrella term most often describing when someone’s reproductive or sexual anatomy that at birth does not fit into binary definitions of male or female. In most hospitals, bodies are evaluated at birth and assigned male or female. When people with intersex bodies do not conform to this male-female sex binary, they are subjected to nonconsensual, permanent surgeries due to medical and social pressure. This often means multiple surgeries throughout childhood and lasting effects on socialization and self-image. The Astraea Foundation believes that intersex people deserve bodily autonomy and should have the right to decide what is best for their bodies. 

The State of Intersex Funding 

Unfortunately, funding for intersex activism is still not a priority in most LGBTQI+ philanthropy spaces. According to Funders for LGBTQ Issues and Global Philanthropy Project, LGBTQI+ organizing receives only 0.5% of global funding, and out of that less than 1% goes to intersex causes. Currently most intersex organizations run entirely on a volunteer basis, and about one in five lack any operating budget. 

Supporting Global Intersex Activism 

Through the Intersex Human Rights Fund (IHRF), the Astraea Foundation supports activists and groups in navigating new threats, obtaining resources, and working for legislative and social progress for intersex people. As a unique, intersex-led initiative, the IHRF is focused on supporting unregistered and underfunded groups with flexible funding and multi-year core support. We are proud to be the first and sometimes only funder for intersex-led organizing around the world, providing grants which typically range from $5,000 to $20,000 USD. By giving activists the financial flexibility they need, we sustain their work in the long term, creating lasting change. 

Uplifting Intersex Communities 

The IHRF currently supports over 60 organizations at the front lines of the intersex movement. We know how vital it is to uplift intersex communities tackling vital issues like bodily autonomy and respect for bodily diversity. People with intersex variations face invisibility, stigma, discrimination, and violence. As anti-rights opposition groups gain momentum around the world, intersex activists are focusing on building narrative power around bodily autonomy to shift the discourse and advocate for a world where intersex people can live authentically and with dignity.  

Let’s drive intersex organizing forward and let intersex bodies be! 

This Intersex Awareness Day, we are thrilled to collaborate with intersex, nonbinary, Latinx artist, designer, and muralist Otto Etraud / Toto Duarte to create the stunning illustration featured above. To explore more of Toto’s inspiring work, be sure to visit their website and follow them on social media at @ottoetraud.

Give Smarter With a DAF

A donor advised fund can increase your giving capacity and simplify donations.

Long-time supporters like Barbara and her partner, Dee, have been using their donor advised fund (DAF), Roots & Wings Fund, to direct donations since 2002. DAFs are powerful tools for charitable giving, offering flexibility and tax advantages similar to 401(k) retirement accounts. As a feminist funder, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation advocates for using your DAF to fund projects centering the liberation of lesbian, bisexual, and queer women and trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people. This emerging type of fund provides flexibility and tax incentives for you, while providing the Astraea Foundation and our movements with reliable income and support, similar to multi-year pledges.  

Interested in learning more about how a DAF can amplify your impact? Contact Iralba Castillo, Associate Director of Development, Individual Giving, to see if a DAF is the right way to structure your giving. 

Email: [email protected]

Proud of Our Place in Queer History

In 1977, our founding mothers gathered around a kitchen table in New York City to start one of the first women’s foundations in the world.

As we reflect on LGBTQI+ History Month this October, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is deeply proud of our place in queer history.  

In 1977, our founding mothers gathered around a kitchen table in New York City to start one of the first women’s foundations in the world. As a small group of progressive women, we started working to address the critical lack of funding for feminist organizing, specifically for lesbians and women of color. We began by making small grants to lesbian activists and artists from diverse cultural, racial, and class backgrounds who were organizing locally. Rooted in intersectional feminist values, our mission grew to encompass trans, intersex, and international struggles over the following decades. We are deeply thankful for the opportunity to contribute to LGBTQI+ liberation over the last 47 years. 

Today we continue to push queer history forward through our innovative grantmaking. We are deeply grateful to our founding mothers’ foresight and the global activists who continue to lead the way towards justice and liberation.

We are thrilled to have collaborated with artist Hannah Good to create this beautiful illustration. Please visit her website and follow her on social media @hannahgoodart to learn more.

Illuminating Liberation Strategies

Have you ever wondered how the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice selects grantee partners and sets funding priorities?

Lighting the way to LGBTQI+ liberation  

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice crafts interconnected, contextual, and resilient strategies for LGBTQI+ resistance. We do this by centering the people closest to the problem and the solution, collaborating with our grantee partners in every step of the process.  

The Astraea Foundation employs regional strategies that strengthen our global impact. As outlined in our 10-year strategic vision, Towards Liberation, our approach “co-creates resourcing strategies by prioritizing long-term, trust-based, and flexible funding models that ensure those who are most impacted decide how resources are allocated.” When we ground our work in activist-led priorities, we sustain diverse and globally interconnected LGBTQI+ movements.    

Regions shaping our strategy  

The Astraea Foundation’s philanthropic portfolio spans the globe across three funds: 

– the International Fund includes six regions 

  • Latin America 
  • Caribbean 
  • Asia and the Pacific 
  • Africa 
  • Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus 
  • Southwest Asia 

– the U.S. Fund covers the United States and its claimed territories 

– the Intersex Human Rights Fund operates globally 

Our regional strategies are informed by close relationships with local activists and ongoing social science research. In-depth, activist-led research, like our recent report “Mapping LGBTQI+ Activism in Central Asia & the South Caucasus,” helps us and the philanthropic community respond to the unique regional contexts of global LGBTQI+ movements. By researching and giving voice to underserved and underfunded LGBTQI+ communities, we illuminate how philanthropy can best support liberation movements.  

Strategic highlights across the world 

Astraea Foundation communities are facing organized and well-funded anti-rights actors and coordinated challenges to progressive LGBTQI+ initiatives. The current anti-rights opposition is also joining forces across borders and increasing its harmful impact. Anti-rights groups seek to deny LGBTQI+ people their fundamental rights by rolling back or stalling progress through draconian laws, anti-LGBTQI+ violence, and escalating rhetoric. By co-opting social justice language and depicting LGBTQI+ communities as threats to the status quo, these groups continue to mobilize public support to derail the advancements of progressive movements.  

To meet these challenges, the Astraea Foundation encourages cross-regional and cross-movement solidarity alongside our core, sustainable, flexible funding. Among our key regional strategic priorities are healing justice and language justice.  

 Healing Justice provides mental health support, rest, joy, and collective care to address collective harm and trauma. This sustains activists in their fight against anti-rights movements.  

Language Justice encourages global engagement by making our work accessible in multiple languages. To support this effort, the Astraea Foundation is engaging more French-speaking activists in Africa and Portuguese-speaking activists in Latin America. Where anti-rights efforts seek to divide us, language justice connects us and builds solidarity.   

Movement building within and across regions are also key tactics for sustaining liberation efforts. For example, the Astraea Foundation’s activist convenings bring our grantee partners together to strengthen movements, build community, and decrease burnout. When LGBTQI+ organizers and activists have time to reflect, collaborate, and share strategies, movements can build power and effect lasting change. 

Core, sustainable, flexible funding is a fundamental strategy at the Astraea Foundation. Unlike project-specific grants, core funding supports general operations, enabling grantees to pay their staff and keep their lights on. Social change does not often happen in a 12-month grant period, so we commit to grantees for the long haul, often for five to 10 years. We believe that donors and funders invested in making meaningful change must commit for the long haul. Flexible funding, based on trust, allows activists to make decisions based on their immediate needs and priorities to sustain their work toward liberation. Stability for LGBTQI+ activists at the frontlines is a foundational part of the Astraea Foundation’s approach.⁠  

The Astraea Foundation works alongside grantees to build power and create sustainable change. Our regional strategies consider the unique contexts of activists and identify opportunities for sustainable impact. As we continuously refine our strategies for each region, we are grateful for our grantee partners’ feedback, expertise, and unwavering commitment to LGBTQI+ liberation. 

Land and Housing for U.S. LGBTQI+ Communities

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice develops its philanthropic strategies through close relationships with local activists and ongoing research into the state of LGBTQI+ movements. Our U.S. Fund centers the liberation of Two-Spirit, intersex, queer, and trans people of color (QTPOC) in the United States and its claimed territories. Since its start, the U.S. Fund has challenged the criminalization of LGBTQI+ Black and Indigenous people, migrants, women of color, mothers, sex workers, and youth, all of whom experience high levels of violence and oppression.   

The Astraea Foundation maintains that housing is a fundamental right, and our communities are better able to care for themselves when they have access to this basic need. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing weather disasters, environmental racism, and an oppressive system that creates and perpetuates cycles of houselessness, Two-Spirit and LBTQI+ people—particularly QTPOC—are experiencing high rates of housing insecurity. 

The U.S. Fund focuses on organizations that are prioritizing purchasing land that supports queer and trans people for the foreseeable future. This includes housing, farmland, and community land trusts that are directly developing and restoring housing for our communities. 

To sustainably take on this work, activist leaders also need respite and rest to continue the struggle for collective liberation in a way that models the world they are seeking to build. To help sustain our communities at the forefront of the work, the U.S. Fund continues to fund healing justice and joy. 

The Astraea Foundation strives to build the power of frontline communities who are interrupting systems of oppression and confronting all forms of violence and criminalization, lighting the way for queer liberation. 

Language Justice in Latin America

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice shapes our regional strategies around the unique contexts in which our grantees live, work, and organize. Our strategies identify opportunities for sustainable impact, as in the International Fund’s strategy for Latin America.

Despite numerous legislative victories and advancements led by LGBTQI+ movements, the Latin American region has also experienced a resurgence in anti-rights and anti-gender ideologies. There have been coordinated attacks by anti-rights groups, as with portrayals of LGTBQI+ people as “enemies of peace” in Colombia and “enemies of family values” in Guatemala.

As a way to address these threats, the Astraea Foundation is prioritizing language justice to encourage dialogue and action across movements and regions in Latin America. By making our work accessible to more people, we further global participation in our mission towards collective liberation. ⁠To support this effort, the Astraea Foundation is actively engaging activists and groups in Brazil, as in our recent call for proposals. 

In our ongoing LGBTQI+ movement research, we also intend to spark critical conversations between activists and funders by publishing upcoming reports in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. Where anti-LGBTQI+ groups seek to divide us, language justice builds solidarity and furthers our mission across regions. 

Collaboration in the Caribbean

Within the International Fund, the Caribbean region has recently witnessed gains in LGBTQI+ rights. The High Courts in Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Barbados decriminalized consensual same-sex sex between 2021 and 2022. Activists are concerned that the rise of anti-gender opposition could threaten civil society spaces and the political landscape. We continue to explore methods for responding to these challenges while addressing pressing issues in the region such as climate change and food insecurity.

The Astraea Foundation’s Caribbean grantee partners take action on a range of issues including anti-discrimination, gender-based violence prevention and response, trans inclusive and gender affirming health care, and sustainable farming. 

The Caribbean portfolio aims to inspire dynamic collaboration rooted in honest and transparent conversations between funders and activists, across movements and regions.  

Cross-Regional Connection in Africa

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice designs regional strategies around the goals of local community activists, rapidly evolving social contexts, and emergent needs. Underlying each strategy is the goal that the Astraea Foundation’s grantees and partners—who have been historically under-resourced—have the power, the capacity, and the funding to create the conditions for their communities to live authentic and free lives.  

Within the International Fund, the Africa portfolio seeks to strengthen LGBTQI+ movement building, center grantee partners working at the intersections, and create opportunities for cross-regional connection. 

Tactics like teach-ins foster connection between activists, enabling the identification of common strengths and the dissemination of resistance strategies. Positioned as participatory dialogues between LBTQI+ movement leaders and actors across the Africa region, they provide an opportunity to strengthen relationships between grantee partners in different regions of the continent. 

Additionally, the Astraea Foundation remains committed to language justice efforts and is seeking to increase the number of Francophone grantee partners. As we continue to challenge norms and attitudes that limit marginalized communities, we work towards the affirmation of their human rights and active participation in society. 

Refugee & Migrant Rights in Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia 

The Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia (ECCA) region poses a diversity of regional movement contexts, ranging from well-resourced and easily accessible to scarcely resourced and nearly inaccessible. As highlighted in the Astraea Foundation’s recent report, “Mapping LGBTQI+ Activism in Central Asia & the South Caucasus,” closing civic spaces pose an increased threat to LGBTQI+ organizing in parts of the region. Due to this and related challenges, some funders have withdrawn or reduced their presence, leaving gaps which the Astraea Foundation is seeking to fill. 

In response to broader issues of climate change, displacement, and xenophobic violence, we will focus on groups that support refugee and migrant rights. Through continued long-term support and multi-year grants, the Astraea Foundation will help activists meet their immediate needs while sustaining them in the face of long-term challenges. 

Healing Justice in Asia & the Pacific

Together we can push philanthropy forward to sustain diverse global LGBTQI+ movements. Grounded in activist-led priorities, the Astraea Foundation’s regional strategies focus our global impact and shine light on the unique regional contexts of activists around the globe. 

In regions like Asia and the Pacific, we commit to supporting activists for the long-term. Currently, we support 60% of our Asia and Pacific grantees for five to 10 years – making their critical work more sustainable and impactful.  

We are committed to centering the people closest to the problem and the solution. The Astraea Foundation prioritizes programs and initiatives led by and for diverse communities, particularly groups led by Indigenous gender diverse communities, anti-caste LBTQI+ groups in India, and ethnic and religious communities experiencing persecution.  

Due to authoritarian governments and religious conservatism, it is challenging for groups that do intersectional work. Through a healing justice framework, we support our grantee partners in prioritizing mental health support, rest, joy, and collective care to address collective harm and trauma. As demonstrated through our 2023 Global Activist Convening in Thailand, healing and joy are essential for LGBTQI+ liberation. 

Refugee & Migrant Rights in Southwest Asia & North Africa

Within the Southwest Asia and North Africa (SWANA) region, the Astraea Foundation’s strategy is tailored to meet the needs of LBTQI+ groups, most of which operate underground due to societal and legal challenges. Activists need long-term, sustained support to meet their specific contexts and needs. To provide greater context into the social and legal landscape, the Astraea Foundation will be publishing research sharing insights into SWANA activist priorities and needs. 

Going forward, we will also explore supporting SWANA diaspora collectives and groups led by displaced people. By building connections across regions, we can provide support for refugee and migrant rights work, including advocacy, digital awareness-raising, and grassroots activism. 

Bodily Autonomy & the Intersex Human Rights Fund

The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice believes those closest to a problem often have the best solution. That is why we work alongside our grantee partners to create interconnected, contextual, and resilient strategies for LGBTQI+ resistance. 

According to Funders for LGBTQ Issues and Global Philanthropy Project, LGBTQI+ organizing receives 0.5% of global funding, and out of that less than 1% goes to intersex causes. Through the Intersex Human Rights Fund (IHRF), we support activists and groups in navigating new threats, obtaining resources, and working for legislative and social progress for intersex people. 

People with intersex variations face invisibility, stigma, discrimination, and violence. As anti-rights opposition groups gain momentum around the world, intersex activists are focusing on building narrative power around bodily autonomy to shift the discourse and advocate for a world where intersex people can live authentically and with dignity. The IHRF supports groups and organizations across the world who work in a variety of political contexts and languages, including Arabic, English, French, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, and Hindi.  

Another barrier for intersex-led organizations is limited access to funding. Most organizations receive little to no external funding and run entirely on a volunteer basis. About one in five intersex organizations do not have an operating budget. The IHRF’s strategy remains focused on supporting unregistered and underfunded groups with flexible funding and multi-year core support. By giving activists the financial flexibility they need, we sustain their work in the long term, creating sustainable change. 

We are thrilled to share our regional strategies that illuminate the Astraea Foundation’s current work. To explore all our transformative liberation strategies, please visit our blog. Your generous support today gives activists the tools they need to thrive. 

The philanthropic and LGBTQI+ rights landscapes continue to rapidly evolve. The Astraea Foundation is rising to meet the moment by collaborating with our grantee partners to craft regional strategies for long-term resilience and growth. Our layered, regional approach supports safety, stability, and healing for LGBTQI+ communities worldwide. As we continuously refine our approach, we are grateful for our communities’ unwavering commitment to LGBTQI+ liberation.  

Interview with Right Side NGO

Right Side serves as a vital advocate for transgender individuals and sex workers, striving to initiate socio-cultural and legal reforms to address systemic inequalities and discrimination in Armenia.

Throughout the year, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice highlights profiles of grantee partners throughout the world and their successes. The Multi-Donor LGBTI Global Human Rights Initiative (GHRI) is a unique partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support local efforts to protect LGBTQI+ people from violence, discrimination, stigma, and criminalization through grantmaking to LGBTQI+-led organizations; research on the lived realities of LGBTQI+ people; social and behavior change communications (SBCC) and other strategic communications capacity strengthening; and emergency response. The Astraea Foundation was fortunate to travel to Armenia with USAID’s Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator, Jay Gilliam, to visit grantees and witness the ways community-led organizations are advancing LGBTQI+ inclusive development programs, policies, research, and training.

We interviewed Lilit, a member and representative of Right Side NGO in Armenia, to get insights into trans and queer liberation work in the region.

Can you tell me a little about yourself and your organization? 

I am a trans woman, trans rights activist, and human rights defender from Armenia. My specific areas of expertise include trans people’s rights and protection, their health and wellbeing, anti-discrimination, as well as hate crime and speech protection. Right Side was founded on January 25, 2016, by a group of trans activists in Armenia. We serve sexual and gender minorities, refugees, asylum seekers, people living with HIV and other disadvantaged sex workers. The organization emerged in response to the urgent need to protect the rights of transgender people and sex workers in the region. Its primary focus is on creating lasting solutions to promote the quality of dignified lives for these communities, aiming to prevent violations of human rights and overcome social difficulties. Right Side serves as a vital advocate for transgender individuals and sex workers, striving to initiate socio-cultural and legal reforms to address systemic inequalities and discrimination.

Could you share some of the top issues for LGBTQI+ communities in Armenia? 

The LGBTQI+ community in Armenia faces multifaceted challenges – hate speech, violence, hate crimes, discrimination, lack of job opportunities and education, lack of healthcare services, and houselessness. Among the top issues we are addressing are advocacy for legal gender recognition and protections, establishing safe spaces, ensuring access to gender-affirming care, and supporting individuals fleeing dangerous situations. Right Side actively addresses these concerns by advocating for legal reforms to protect the rights of transgender people and sex workers, providing essential support services (health, social, humanitarian, legal), and fostering community building initiatives. By working to change societal perceptions and break norms, Right Side endeavors to create a more inclusive and accepting environment for LGBTQI+ individuals in Armenia.

What kinds of financial support do you receive and how does it meet your needs?

Right Side has received core funding and social and behavior change communication grants, which have enabled us to respond effectively to the needs of the LGBTQI+ community. These grants support Right Side efforts in protecting the community, promoting their wellbeing and safety, advancing human rights protections and legal reforms, and challenging societal norms and attitudes. Through strategic programming and advocacy actions funded by these grants, Right Side can implement vital initiatives that directly benefit transgender people, sex workers, and the broader LGBTQI+ community in Armenia.

Where do you hope the LGBTQI+ community and movement will be in five or ten years? 

In the coming five to ten years, I envision significant progress for the LGBTQI+ community and movement in Armenia. With continued advocacy, legal reforms, and societal awareness campaigns led by organizations like ours, I hope to see greater acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQI+ individuals in Armenian society. I anticipate improved legal protections, expanded access to healthcare, and the establishment of more safe spaces for LGBTQI+ individuals. Ultimately, I aspire to witness a society where LGBTQI+ rights are fully recognized and respected, and where all individuals can live authentically without fear of discrimination or prejudice.

The Astraea Foundation believes that community-driven, well-funded, and empowered queer movements will propel liberation work forward and create brighter futures for us all. To learn more about Right Side and their trans rights work in Armenia, visit them on Facebook and Instagram

Support to Right Side is made possible through the Multi-Donor LGBTI Global Human Rights Initiative (GHRI), an eight-year, $55 million public-private partnership that leverages financial and technical contributions from multiple parties including USAID, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Global Affairs Canada, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, Equality Without Borders, the Williams Institute, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, and Franklin & Marshall College. Over 40 LGBTQI+ civil society organizations have been supported through the GHRI.