Fighting for a world where you’re free to be you: National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund

Note from the CREDO team: This August, the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Support from the CREDO community will help the Task Force Action Fund in its effort to build political power, take action and create change to achieve freedom and justice for LGBTQ people and communities.

Read this important blog post about the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund’s critical work, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send funding to the Task Force Action Fund to support its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding August grantees.

This year has been tough. The rights of LGBTQ+ people, women, drag artists and young people are being threatened repeatedly. As a bisexual, transmasculine person and the father of a toddler, I’m increasingly concerned about the anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies seeping into the fabric of our country and making hatred the main characteristic instead of love.

My partner and I worry, honestly, about the country our child is growing up in. But in my time working for the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, I have consistently been encouraged by our mission to build a world where all people can feel free to be their most authentic selves, away from hatred and bigotry.

The National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund was founded to advocate for the rights, equity, health and safety of our LGBTQ+ community. Now in our 50th year, we continue to build the political power of LGBTQ+ people and protect against attacks on our liberties and fundamental human rights. One way we do this by training and mobilizing grassroots activists around progressive, LGBTQ-affirming initiatives, giving voice to supporters of LGBTQ+ equity.

Over the past several years, we’ve seen an increasing wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills advance through local, state and federal legislatures, further marginalizing LGBTQ+ people through political hostility. These relentless efforts have given rise to previously unseen levels of LGBTQ+ harassment, physical violence and online hate. It’s more important now than ever to push back against the hate and intolerance we began fighting 50 years ago.

To meet this political moment, the Task Force Action Fund is making a difference through the work of our staff and supporters. Here are some of the initiatives we’re currently working on:

• Building Queer Power training series: This training series equips organizers with the tools they need to create change in their local communities. With programs like Direct Action 101, Driving the Narrative: Combatting Anti-Queer Propagandaand Organizing 101-Base Building + Outreach, our focus is on building a firm foundation for young people who are just entering the political sphere and helping them find ways to exercise their voice.
• Creating Change 365 (CC365): As a year-round extension of our annual Creating Change Conference, CC365 aims to build the knowledge, skills and power of the LGBTQ+ movement, emphasizing interactivity and participant engagement for a diverse audience of activists, movement leaders, students and service providers. Join us for robust political discussions and explorations of queer culture and joy.
• Ban the Repro Binary: After the historic reversal of Roe v. Wade, in June 2022, the Task Force Action Fund initiated a public education campaign to expand the LGBTQ+ community’s understanding of reproductive justice and encourage cis men to support the fight for reproductive rights. Our Ban the Repro Binary campaign consists of several powerful short videos from a diverse set of male-identified voices in the LGBTQ+ community.
• Queer Faith in Action: The Task Force Action Fund works directly with faith leaders who are committed to facilitating a paradigm shift to make churches welcoming and affirming places for all people, regardless of sexual and gender identity. These partnerships directly upend dominant narratives that have often divided people of faith on LGBTQ matters.
• Spanish-language speakers training: We are building and training a pipeline of Spanish-speaking canvassers and media surrogates who are prepared to speak on a broad range of topics related to LGBTQ+ people and are qualified to defend our issues publicly. The Task Force Action Fund’s Spanish-language media ambassadors have already appeared on networks like CNN en Español and Univision, and they have been featured on local radio stations that have high reach in our target districts.

Change is possible! Access to democracy, for everyone, depends on full representation of our communities through voter protections. The enforcement of LGBTQ+ civil rights depends on federal nondiscrimination protections provided by legislation like the Equality Act. We have a pathway toward liberation. All we must do is act!

Today and always, we fight to better the lives of LGBTQ+ people, especially those most marginalized in our community. We believe in the power of centering the voices and experiences of Black and Brown people, transgender and non-binary folx, people with disabilities and people living in poverty. Together we are stronger because an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.

You can learn more about our work at TheTaskforceActionFund.org and vote for us today at CREDODonations.com!

With encouragement and gratitude,

Reese Rathjen Amyx (He/They), Digital Fundraising Manager, National LGBTQ Task Force