Funding Our Freedom: The Future of LGBTIQ Equality

Dear Friend,

Repression does not just silence movements—it deliberately cuts off the resources they need to survive.

Around the world, governments are reducing funding, restricting civic space, and targeting the organizations that protect and advance the rights of LGBTIQ people. The objective is clear: weaken movements by depriving them of the support they need to endure.

Funding Our Freedom is Outright's response to this challenge.

This $10 million emergency campaign—quietly launched in June 2025 and publicly launched in January 2026—was created to sustain frontline organizations and the global advocacy infrastructure that supports them at a time of unprecedented pressure. 50% of funds raised support Outright's grantmaking to frontline organizations around the world, and the remaining half supports Outright's core programs. As of June 2026, Outright has identified approx. 80% of the campaign goal, and secured resources are already being deployed through Outright's programs and grantmaking. 

By the end of June 2026, Outright will have awarded $3.6–$3.8 million in grants to more than 120 LGBTIQ groups across 100 countries.

We have already seen the consequences when funding disappears.

In Morocco, for example, the country's only registered organization working on gender-based violence and the rights of women and LGBTIQ people lost U.S. government funding after it was terminated in 2025. Suddenly, covering rent and staff salaries became a challenge, putting years of advocacy and community support at risk.

Emergency support from Outright helped the organization retain three staff members—enough to keep its doors open and continue its work. That support helped make possible an extraordinary outcome: a formal invitation to participate in national policy reform discussions, creating a direct pathway for LGBTIQ voices to be heard in decision-making spaces.

This is what is at stake when funding is cut.

And this is what becomes possible when support is sustained.

The experience in Morocco is not unique. Funding cuts made 2025 one of the most damaging years in decades for LGBTIQ movements, eliminating more than a quarter of global funding for LGBTIQ organizations. Yet the movement endures because supporters, partners, and advocates refused to let repression prevail.

Your support of Funding Our Freedom helps ensure that when governments withdraw support, movements do not disappear. Advocacy continues. Communities remain connected. Activists continue protecting one another and advancing change.

Movements survive because people choose to act.

This is that moment.

Our campaign has been extended until September 2026. Please help us reach our goal by making a gift and sharing this campaign with your network.

Thank you for standing with LGBTIQ communities worldwide. Happy Pride! 

Outright International

Links:

• Outright and FOF