As One Door Closes...
Three weeks ago, I was laid off from my job supporting global LGBTQI+ human rights.
The elimination of my position is just one of many, many data points reflecting the failure of philanthropy to continue funding essential justice work in the face of the far-right onslaught coming from the current regime and its collaborators, funders, and enablers. That onslaught is absolutely real — on foundations and on all the pillars of a what was a relatively functional open civil society in the United States. Universities, law firms & the judiciary, the media — every sector that supports democratic institutions and engagement are also under siege.
And while I can certainly understand the caution of funders in this dangerous time, cowering is a strategy doomed to failure. There is no appeasement, no compromise possible with those determined to consolidate authoritarian rule, here or elsewhere. Foundations et al. should be digging in, not putting their heads down waiting for the storm to pass. (And I am very grateful to my funder friends who are continuing to fight the good fight.)
In the meantime, though I will mourn the end of this position, no single job or organization or institution or strategy will save us; that’s up to all of us. And I am so incredibly proud of what I could play a role in these past three years, working with some incredible partners here in D.C. and all over the globe, all of whom have my deepest gratitude.
To have had the chance to coordinate our work to end conversion therapy practices around the world, to support LGBTQI+ refugees & asylum seekers and the programs and resettlement mechanisms to bring them to safety & dignity, to have led our still-growing coalition to fight the anti-gender forces determined to use homophobia & transphobia to usher in authoritarianism for all, to have met with extraordinarily brave & innovative LGBTQI+ activists in Central Asia & across the globe, to have helped secure sanctions against politicians & media figures responsible for lethal violence at Tbilisi Pride — all these and more are among the proudest accomplishments of my life.
I am now taking stock and sketching out what comes next — especially in the contexts of the attack on an entire sector of employment and of rapidly accelerating authoritarianism in the United States and beyond. Broadly, I’m determined to continue fighting authoritarianism and to advocate for social inclusion of vulnerable populations, whether that’s LGBTQI+ people, refugees & asylum seekers, or a host of other groups at particular risk now. I am excited to keep building the capacity and resilience of social justice movements around the world and to craft and promote those narratives that shift opinion and policy in an era when facts themselves are being bulldozed to promote the rule of far-right oligarchs and religious extremists.
One door has, unfortunately, closed. But I’m not going anywhere, wherever the next step might literally take me. And once more, I share the reminder that no one is coming to save us in the face of what we’re up against; we will save each other.
