Dear John,
I keep coming back to this question:
What would it actually take for LGBTIQ people everywhere — not just the lucky ones, not just someday — to live freely?
That's the question that started Outright International 35 years ago. It's what I think about every morning as Executive Director at Outright.
And here's what I've learned: The answer keeps changing. But it always includes you.
WE'VE BUILT SOMETHING THAT LASTS
When India’s Supreme Court struck down Section 377 in 2018, the decision drew on international human rights standards—including a United Nations submission authored by Outright that challenged the gender stereotypes that prop up criminalization. That kind of citation doesn’t happen overnight; it rests on years of patient UN advocacy and partnerships across movements.
When COVID shut down the world, and underfunded LGBTIQ groups faced collapse, we moved fast because we could. The Outright Emergency Fund disbursed $3.8 million to 355 organizations in 108 countries over a two-year period. That speed was possible because the relationships, systems, and trust were already there—built long before the crisis hit.
That's what 35 years means. Not just history. Capacity.
BUT HERE'S THE TRUTH
We're not done. Not even close.
More than 64 countries still criminalize LGBTIQ people. Anti-LGBTIQ laws are spreading faster than we can count them. The U.S. cut international funding that keeps our work alive. Hate crimes are rising. Rights we thought were secure are being challenged.
Some days? Honestly, it feels like we're going backward.
But here's what I know: Movements like ours that last decades can weather storms that break everyone else.
When opportunities arise, we are ready. When a crisis hits, we're already embedded. We already have trust. We already have infrastructure ready to respond.
That's what you help us maintain.
35 years in, I'm not naive about how hard this is. But I'm also not naive about what's possible when people refuse to give up.
Courage compounds. Persistence pays off. And together, we're genuinely unstoppable.
