page_title: Arcus Foundation
section_title: LGBT rights
hierarchical_section_title: Arcus Foundation / Grantmaking / LGBT rights
caption_attribution_description: English: Rainbow flag over Liverpool Town Hall on International Day Against Homophobia &amp; Transphobia 2009.
context_page_description: The Arcus Foundation is a charitable foundation focused on issues related to LGBT rights, social justice and conservation. The foundation's stated mission is "to ensure that LGBT people and our fellow apes thrive in a world where social and environmental justice are a reality."
  The Arcus Foundation is the top LGBT-specific grant-making organization in the United States. The foundation was founded by Jon Stryker, heir to the Stryker Corporation medical supply company fortune. The foundation has offices in New York City and Cambridge, England.
context_section_description: The Arcus Foundation is a major supporter of LGBT advocacy efforts. The foundation has given money to oppose religious liberty exemptions, including a 2014 grant of $100,000 to the American Civil Liberties Foundation supporting “communications strategies to convince conservative Americans that religious exemptions are 'un-American'" and a $600,000 grant to the ACLU in 2013 to support the ACLU's Campaign to End the Use of Religion to Discriminate. In 2013, the Arcus Foundation launched a new Social Justice Initiative which has placed a heavy emphasis on reaching out to faith communities around the world to build cultural acceptance for LGBT people.
  In January 2011, the foundation made a $23 million grant to establish the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership at Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
  In 2014, Arcus awarded $75,000 to the Washington, DC-based Faithful America to “promote greater media visibility for Christians who denounce the abuse of religious-freedom arguments to oppose full equality” for LGBT people. Arcus has also awarded at least $200,000 to a coalition of groups seeking to "counter the narrative of the Catholic Church" and "to support pro-LGBT faith advocates to influence and counter the narrative of the Catholic Church and its ultra-conservative affiliates."
  In April 2015, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) published an article disclosing that the Religion News Service (RNS), a U.S. news agency focused on religion, ethics, spirituality and moral issues, had received a grant of $120,000 from the Arcus Foundation. The grant's stated intent was “to recruit and equip LGBT supportive leaders and advocates to counter rejection and antagonism within traditionally conservative Christian churches.” The CNA story questioned whether the grant had biased RNS's coverage of traditional religion, specifically citing an RNS article on Cardinal Raymond Burke. In response to the CNA report, RNS's editor-in-chief denied that the Arcus grant had any influence over editorial decisions at RNS.
  In December 2015, the Arcus Foundation announced $15 million in funding to boost the transgender movement in the U.S. and globally.
caption: Arcus Foundation's social justice strategy primarily supports LGBT advocacy around the world
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