Diversity & Inclusion

Protecting and Advocating for LGBTQ Rights

Jun 24, 2019 2:05 PM ET
Campaign: Connecting Business to Cause

In honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan - considered the tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States - each June Americans come together to celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month. Pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts are held all across the country, and nonprofits like America's Charities' members listed on this page, use the month to raise awareness about the current state of LGBTQ human rights and how their respective organizations are working to protect and advocate for those rights.

In recognition of #PrideMonth, America's Charities is celebrating the following agents of change who we are proud to call our members.

One of the most cost-efficient ways you can support these nonprofits is to donate to them via payroll deduction through your employer's workplace giving program (Don't have a program? Click here to have your employer contact our team.) Click on each charity's name above to learn more about their work, and to make a donation now!

  • Human Rights Campaign Foundation: The Human Rights Campaign Foundation envisions an America where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer persons are ensured of their basic equal rights - and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work, and in the community. Through research, education and outreach, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation encourages LGBT Americans to live their lives openly and seeks to change the hearts and minds of Americans to the side of equality. Click here to learn more about their specific projects and initiatives, and click here to find a pride event near you. 
  • Point Foundation: Point Foundation (Point) is the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit. Point Foundation's purpose is to empower LGBTQ students of merit, many of whom might otherwise be at an academic and social disadvantage as a direct result of their sexual orientation or gender identity. While empowerment is a lofty goal, Point Foundation achieves it by providing education, mentorship, leadership development, and community service training; as well as the financial ability to attend the nation's foremost institutions of higher education; to our scholars. Click here to learn more.
  • Time Out Youth: Time Out Youth offers support, advocacy and opportunities for personal development and social interaction to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, ages 11 through 20, in the greater Charlotte, NC, area. Our programs include weekly support group meetings, movie nights, one-on-one counseling, crisis intervention and emergency housing. Our life skills support includes academic tutoring, assistance with college and scholarship applications, resume preparation, interviewing, and mentoring. Our advocacy efforts include a school outreach program aimed at raising awareness among educators of the special challenges faced by LGBTQ students. Additionally, we have a Speaker's Bureau which offers presentations by our youth and an adult moderator on what it means to be LGBTQ at home, at school, at work, and in the community. Click here to learn more.   
  • SPLC: Despite recent progress toward acceptance across America, the LGBTQ community in the Deep South continues to face significant barriers to equality, as few states offer protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The Southern Poverty Law Center is internationally recognized for its groundbreaking leadership in seeking justice for the most vulnerable in our society and fighting hate in courtrooms and classrooms throughout the nation. We’re working in the courts to ensure that LGBTQ people achieve full equality under the law. Our work has a national reach but is focused primarily on the Southeast, where relatively few organizations advocate for the LGBTQ community. In recent years, we’ve launched groundbreaking cases to: Challenge gay-to-straight “conversion therapy” as fraudulent; Obtain equal government benefits for veterans; Protect LGBTQ children from violence and harassment in school; Ensure the parental rights of LGBTQ people; Protect the right to proper medical treatment and safe housing for transgender prisoners; Force states to recognize the rights of same-sex couples; and Protect the First Amendment rights of LGBTQ students. Click here to learn more.