MUMBAI: Three home-grown philanthropists on Tuesday announced the launch of a corporate philanthropic fund aimed to support queer-led not-for-profit organisations working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQIA+) communities across the country.
Delhi-based Keshav Suri Foundation (KSF), Mumbai-based Godrej Industries Group (GIG) and — in her personal capacity — Radhika Piramal, executive director of VIP Industries Ltd, have pledged monies for the Pride Fund, which will create a corpus of ₹2 crore annually for the next three years. The corpus is expected to grow as other funders join the effort.
Eight queer-led organisations — Basera Social Institute, Deepshikha Committee, Vikalp (Women’s Group), Sappho for Equality, Karna Subarna Welfare Society, Ya_All: The Youth Network, Chhattisgarh Mitwa Sankalp Samiti, and Payana — were selected among 29 applicants to receive the multi-year funding.
These NGOs span a range of work, regions and target groups. While Basera Samajik Sansthan, based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, provides livelihood training and legal support to vulnerable groups including sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSMs), transgender people, and people living with HIV (PLHIV), Baroda, Gujarat-based Vikalp Women’s Group provides shelter and crisis support to lesbian and bisexual women, and transmen, and conducts awareness programmes, and Ya_All, which started in 2017 as a secret WhatsApp group, operates as a resource hub in Imphal, Manipur, connecting young LGBTQIA+ people to counselling in areas including sexual and reproductive health, drug use and harm reduction.
“It’s an opportunity for us to meet the needs of our ever-growing network of community,” said Maya Sharma, co-founder of Vikalp Women’s Group.
“LGBTQIA organisations are running on fumes. The Pride Fund aims to raise resources and awareness for queer-led NGOs (non-government organisations) that work tirelessly on the ground for the community,” said Piramal, who initiated the fund along with Keshav Suri, executive director of the Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, and Parmesh Sahani, who heads the Godrej DEI (Diversity Equity Inclusion) Lab. All three are open about their queer identities.
“As an Indian citizen who believes in Constitutionally-enshrined values of liberty, equality, dignity and fraternity, I am happy to support the Pride Fund, and for Godrej to be a platform to launch it,” said Nisaba Godrej, executive chairperson, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL).
A report titled ‘Against All Odds’ brought out by philanthropy systems orchestrator Dasra timed to accompany the launch of the Pride Fund pointed to the near absence of philanthropy for LGBTQ organisations in India.
Not only does India receive only 1% of the global funding for queer communities, barely two of India’s top 50 philanthropic givers identify LGBTQIA+ issues as an explicit priority, the report found.
“The Indian Constitution affirms diversity and equity. And many Indian companies, particularly those whose histories are rooted in the Swadeshi and national struggle movements, believe in the values of philanthropy and building the country from the grassroots,” said Shahani. We want to widen their horizon to see how queer people, who form 10% of the country’s population even as per conservative estimates, are also part of the focus areas they finance like education or health, Shahani said.
Suri, whose foundation conducts livelihood and skills training to members of the queer community, many of whom even find employment in his family’s hospitality company, pointed to the precarity of philanthropic efforts even in the global scenario. On Tuesday, US froze foreign aid, dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has distributed billions of dollars worldwide to support NGOs since its inception in 1961.
Piramal said that she remains hopeful. She has already started approaching foundations, High Networth Individuals and companies with CSR budgets to give to the Pride Fund, she said. “The wealth in this country is only growing. We have to keep asking with charm and persistence.”