First ‘Pride Fund’ Fuels Hope Among NGOS Working for the LGBTQIA+ Issues

After working with transmasculine individuals settled in the tribal areas of Gujarat for more than 20 years, Maya Sharma is hopeful that the recently announced funds for their organisation will assist in the groundwork—work for which her organisation has been selected as a beneficiary, along with seven others.

In the first week of February, three philanthropists came together to announce India's first-ever Pride Fund to assist queer-led not-for-profit organisations working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQIA+) communities across the country.

The Delhi-based Keshav Suri Foundation (KSF), Godrej Industries Group from Mumbai, and Radhika Piramal, Executive Director of VIP Industries Ltd and Trustee of Dasra UK, in her personal capacity, collaborated for the Pride Fund, which will disburse Rs. 2 crores annually for the next three years. The organisations selected as beneficiaries include Basera Social Institute, Deepshikha Committee, Vikalp (Women’s Group), Sappho for Equality, Karna Sgubarna Welfare Society, Ya_All: The Youth Network, Chhattisgarh Mitwa Sankalp Samiti, and Payana. 

Vikalp was working towards gender-related issues and labour issues when Sharma got in touch with the founders of the organisation, which gradually also forayed into the groundwork for the transmen in different parts of Gujarat, including in rural and urban tribal areas. “We will continue our work to instil necessary skills in the trans persons of the tribal areas so that they can meet the employment trends,” the 70-year-old Sharma says. Believing that the corporates are getting “sensitive” towards gender issues, making them come up with such initiatives, Sharma also states that it might rampant their process of sensitising people in colleges and universities. Commenting on the fund, which is yet to be released for their organisation, Sharma says, “It is encouraging when the work gets recognised like this.”

‘Gender is behind for CSR funds’

Currently in its nascent stage, the funds have not yet been released, even for the other organisation, Sappho For Equality, whose Managing Trustee, Koyel Ghosh, believes that such an initiative by these corporates could have been a result of the fact that the founders also belong to the LGBTQIA+ community. “It might have contributed to such an initiative. Usually, gender-related issues are not the priority for the corporates for their CSR initiatives; it mostly revolves around climate change issues, clean-ups, and more,” they say. Further, they also mention that the government only provides shelter homes for the community, which is why non-governmental organisations have to step in for such causes.

That said, Sappho, which works in the seven districts of West Bengal aiming to reduce gender and sexual discrimination, is looking forward to utilising the funds to create a livelihood for the community. “We might use it for ensuring entrepreneurial ventures for them, especially for the trans persons and women,” Ghosh says, adding that queer persons face risks over their identity, and NGOs like theirs, which have seen more than 350 queer persons reaching out to them for jobs and assistance, need support to be able to sustain.

What also makes Sappho feel relieved is that the organisation working at the grassroots level did not have to manage the tedious process of obtaining funds from the corporates. “A lot of procedures like foreign documentation, surveillance, and other paperwork often act as a barrier for a small-scale organisation to ask for the funds from the corporates,” Ghosh, whose organisation currently has around 3,000 volunteers, opines.

India gets less than 1% of global LGBTQIA+ funding

The corporates took into consideration the years of operation and experience, along with the NGOs’ focus on queer-led initiatives, intersectional marginalisation, regional diversity, commitment to underserved areas, and the potential to scale their operations, for selecting them as the grantees for the Pride Fund, as Megha Jain, the Senior Advisor of Dasra, says.

Dasra, on the occasion of the announcement, also presented a report titled Against All Odds: Advancing Equity for India’s LGBTQIA+ Communities, which highlights that India accounts for 18% of the world’s population yet receives less than 1% of global LGBTQIA+ funding. Talking about the disbursement process for all beneficiaries, Jain states that it will be disbursed in a single tranche by the end of March so that the NGOs have the funds to be utilised for April 2025 – March 2026. “The commitment is for three years, and the grant will be renewed annually for the next two years,” she says, adding that the Dasra team is working with each of the NGO partners to finalise and sign the MOU based on the “deeper understanding of the programme needs, recommendations of the patrons and jury, and most importantly, taking the organisations' budgets into account.”

Hopeful that the initiative might spark a wider shift in corporate responsibility, with more companies aligning their financial support with social justice causes like gender equality, Jain also states that Dasra’s grant management team will work closely with the non-profits through two key streams: "Both streams will be led by expert teams at Dasra, with ongoing guidance from the fund's patrons and anchors. The monitoring process will include regular reporting on fund utilisation and tracking of programme activities. Non-profits will also receive tailored capacity-building support to strengthen their leadership and enable them to maximise the impact of their grants. This support will include workshops, sharing of best practices, and addressing challenges at the institutional, programme, and sector levels,” she adds. 

‘Long way to go’

Meanwhile, the news about the announcement has already reached the LGBTQIA+ community and is being taken positively. Bengaluru-based public speaker R Balaji, who identifies as a gender-fluid trans person, states that it is high time that corporates realise the need to work for the benefit of trans persons, who are exposed to security threats, and allocating funds for the cause is at least a step in the right direction, if not more. “I have stopped going to a lot of talk shows as I think it is time for the allies to pride now come up, understand the needs and problems of the community, and take measures to ensure an equitable society,” she says, adding that such an onus also lies on the coming generation.

Citing references to the previous workplaces where she worked and how they managed to sensitise people to foster a safe environment for Balaji, she also mentions that the work should not only stop after “making gender-neutral washrooms and sensitising people.” “Trans persons who are exposed to vulnerabilities need security in the form of jobs; corporates need to pave the way for such inclusions,” she further says, while also congratulating the organisations for releasing the ‘Pride Fund’ and hoping that the significant amount of funds will be used for ensuring job security for trans persons to save them from the risks they face on a daily basis.