Explained | India’s first Pride Fund, its objectives, initial promoters

The Pride Fund, a funding initiative to support LGBTQIA+ organisations in India, was launched on Wednesday (February 5). The fund will give financial assistance to non-profit organisations in India that are working for the empowerment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex persons.

What is a Pride Fund?

A Pride Fund is a dedicated fund meant only to support the LGBTQIA+ community and organisations. It’s a fund that will donate to NGOs, led by members of the community, that are involved in working to improve access to housing, healthcare, education, and employment. The fund will help these groups in promoting awareness, equality, and positive change for members of the community.

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Who are the initial backers?

India’s Pride Fund is promoted by three prominent members of the LGBTQIA+ community – Radhika Piramal, Executive Director, VIP Industries and Trustee, Dasra UK in her individual capacity, Parmesh Shahani, Head of Godrej DEI Labs from the Godrej Industries group, and Keshav Suri, Executive Director of Lalit Suri Hospitality Group and the founder of Keshav Suri Foundation (KSF) on behalf of the foundation.

These three businesspersons have come together to launch India’s first corporate philanthropic Pride Fund.

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“Today will go down in history. What a celebration of queer joy and queer resilience! We’re deeply grateful to everyone who joined us for the launch of the groundbreaking Pride Fund and the trailblazing report, Against All Odds. We’ve turned a corner in the journey of queer advocacy, and we’re excited to continue pushing for many more milestones that will help revolutionise queer advocacy in India,” Godrej Industries shared in a post on Instagram.

“Queer” is an umbrella term that incorporates a range of identities outside the mainstream, and can refer to gender identity and sexual orientation. It also stands for “questioning”.

How much is the funding?

They have committed a funding of ₹2 crore every year for the next three years.

The promoters of the Pride Fund hope that the corpus will grow as more donors come on board.

Dasra and Godrej DEI Lab will serve as anchors for the fund.

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Which NGOs will receive funds?

Eight NGOs have been shortlisted to receive funding initially. They were shortlisted from a list of 50 organisations, of which 29 submitted programme proposals.

The eight selected NGOs are Vikalp (Women’s Group), Deepshikha Committee, Payana, Basera Social Institute, Sappho for Equality, Chhattisgarh Mitwa Sankalp Samiti, Ya_All: The Youth Network, and Karna Subarna Welfare Society.

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These organisations work across different regions and issues including offering shelter and crisis counselling, livelihood training and legal support to sex workers, awareness programmes, counselling on sexual and reproductive health, drug use, and harm reduction, and support for people living with HIV.

Pride Funds in other nations

There are similar Pride Funds with different names in other countries.

The Solidarity Fund is active in Europe, and it supports Pride organisations with small project grants for public actions or events that seek to promote awareness and a better understanding of LGBTQIA+ communities.

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There are several funds in the US including the Seattle Pride Impact Fund the Founders First CDC that supports the National Pride Grant, the Pride365 Fund, and several others.