Meet the Moment: A Call for Progressive Philanthropic Response
to the Anti-Gender Movement
In early 2020, Global Philanthropy Project worked with our member organizations and philanthropic partners to develop two related pieces of private research: 1) a report mapping the funding of the global “anti-gender ideology” or “anti-gender” movement, and 2) a report mapping the progressive philanthropic response. We offer the following public document in order to share key learning and to offer additional analysis gained in the comparison of the two reports. Additionally, we share insights based on comparing global and regional LGBTI funding data as documented in the 2017-2018 Global Resources Report: Government and Philanthropic Support for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Communities.
These findings offer a clear call to action: progressive movements and their philanthropic partners are being outspent by hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and the institutions providing that opposition funding have developed sophisticated and coordinated systems to learn, co-fund, and expand their influence.
The philanthropic community is called to recognize the scale of the fight and to be both rigorous and creative in our response. Let us seize this remarkable opportunity to work together and engage our collective learning, spending power, and institutional knowledge to help transform the conditions of our communities. Together we can leverage the collective power that this generational crisis demands.
GPP invites you to dig into this new comparative report and rise to the challenges of this time.
GPP is grateful to the Global Faith and Equality Fund of Horizons Foundation and the full GPP membership for support in the development and translation of this report.
KEY FINDINGS
- The aggregate revenue of U.S.-based organizations associated with the anti-gender movement during the ten-year span of 2008 to 2017 was $6.2 billion USD.
- In that same time period, eleven United States organizations associated with the anti-gender movement funneled at least $1 billion into countries across the globe.
- Looking ahead, our researchers were able to identify an estimated total of about $45 million that is planned for future progressive philanthropic distribution focused on this issue area – a significant increase compared to previous years, though vastly outscaled by the opposition’s funding levels.
- Looking specifically at an LGBTI global funding comparison, we found that between 2013-2017, LGBTI movements worldwide received $1.2 billion, while the anti-gender movement received $3.7 billion – more than triple the LGBTI funding.
WHAT IS "GENDER IDEOLOGY"?
“The phrase is neither a legitimate academic term, nor a political movement. It is a theory drummed up by hard-right religious activists, who present it as a gay- and feminist-led movement out to upend the traditional family and the natural order of society. It’s a catchall phrase to sell a false narrative and justify discrimination against women and LGBT people. And it is winning elections.”
— (The Guardian, 2018)
View our resource page to learn more about “anti-gender” or “anti-gender ideology” and the progressive response.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Partnering with Pride was written by leading LGBTIQ+ groups across Asia and the Pacific, in partnership with the Global Philanthropy Project and Equality Australia, 2023
Elevate Children Funders Group y Global Philanthropy Project, 2021
Global Philanthropy Project, 2022
Shake the Table & The Bridgespan Group, 2022.
The Advocates for Human Rights, December 2021
Elevate Children Funders Group and Global Philanthropy Project, March 2021
These briefs focus on: global LBQTI funding, the role of intermediaries and government embassies in global LGBTI funding, and funding for LGBTI sex workers.
Global Philanthropy Project, January 2021
Global Philanthropy Project and Funders for LGBTQ Issues, May 2020
Resources from Elevate Children’s Funders Group and Global Philanthropy Project, October 2019
GPP, GATE, AJWS, Astraea, 2019.
American Jewish World Services
June 2019
Grantmaker Resources re: funding Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer Women
Resources for understanding and resisting “anti-gender ideology.”
GPP, noviembre 2018
GPP, November 2018
ILGA-Europe & GPP, October 2018
Inclusive International Funders List and Education Resources for LGBTI Philanthropy.
How governments in the Global North can effectively partner with intermediary organizations to support LGBTI communities in the Global South and East; Commissioned by Global Philanthropy Project, July 2016
Report available in English and French
