Deadline: 31 August 2024
The Human Rights Campaign is pleased to announce Queer to Stay program to support LGBTQ+ small businesses, especially those owned by and designed for LGBTQ+ people of color, women and the transgender community.
This initiative, a collaboration between the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and SHOWTIME, will celebrate and support Pride and the LGBTQ+ community by identifying and making significant donations to at least 25 LGBTQ+ serving businesses this year, selected based on the communities they serve and their financial need. Entering its fifth year, in 2024 Queer to Stay will have extended support to over 100 businesses since its inception.
The “Queer to Stay” initiative launched in June 2020, awarding 10 LGBTQ+ small businesses across the country by addressing the financial hardships faced during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the fifth iteration of this program, “Queer to Stay” will reach over $1 million in total distributed funding, awarding over 100 businesses across the country over its lifetime.
Benefits
- New this year, HRC and Showtime will be partnering with Accion Opportunity Fund (AOF), a financial support system for small businesses on a mission to advance economic justice for all, to increase lending and resources to underinvested entrepreneurs.
- This partnership will advance economic mobility and wealth creation by connecting the extensive network of “Queer to Stay” grant applicants to AOF’s flexible capital and free coaching resources.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Queer to Stay initiative is specifically focused on supporting US-based, for-profit businesses. Nonprofit organizations and international businesses are not eligible for funding through the Queer to Stay initiative.
- Your business should primarily serve/cater to the LGBTQ+ community, including LGBTQ+ Communities of Color, the LGBTQ+ Women’s Community, and/or the Transgender and Non-Binary Community.
- Your business must explain how they have been negatively impacted financially due to COVID-19.
- Special consideration will be given to businesses that are owned by members of the communities they are trying to serve through this initiative — queer people of color, queer women and transgender and non-binary individuals. They will also prioritize funding for businesses that did not receive a donation from the Queer to Stay initiative previously.
For more information, visit Human Rights Campaign.
