A term to describe people whose gender identity or expression matches the sex they were assigned at birth.

The practice of funding a project or business by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.

Funding sources that include government, foundation, or other institutional funding and that exclude membership fees, community fundraisers, events, and individual contributions from founders or their family members. It is a measure of the combined support that LBQ groups receive from government, private, and public institutional donors.

Intersectionality is an analytic sensibility first developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American lawyer and civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory, as a way of thinking about identity and its relationship to power. The term is used to describe how different forms of discrimination can interact and overlap, and why it is necessary for feminists to take into account the needs of women from a variety of backgrounds when considering social questions and issues. Originally articulated on behalf of Black women, the term brought to light the invisibility of many constituents within groups that claim them as members, but often fail to represent them. For example, Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color within LGBTQI movements; Girls of Color in the fight against the school-to-prison pipeline; women within immigration movements; trans women within feminist movements; and people with disabilities fighting police abuse — all face vulnerabilities that reflect the intersections of racism, sexism, class oppression, transphobia, able-ism and more. Intersectionality has given many advocates a way to frame their circumstances and to fight for their visibility and inclusion.

Intersex people are born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads, and/or chromosome patterns) that vary from typical binary notions of male or female bodies. Intersex is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of natural bodily variations. The term “intersex” has been reclaimed by some intersex people as a part of their larger personal and political identities.

In the context of this report, LBQ focuses on sexual identity and is inclusive of lesbian, bisexual, and queer women, both cis and trans, and all non-binary people on the gender spectrum who relate to a lesbian, bisexual, and/or queer identity.

In the content of this report, LBQ people comprised the majority (50% or more) of a group’s leadership in order to classify the organization as “LBQ-led” and be included in our sample of LBQ groups.

In the context of this report, “LBQ-inclusive” funding is defined as broad funding streams or programs, e.g., LGBTQI or women’s rights funding, that is meant to be inclusive of LBQ communities or issues, but is not specifically targeted to LBQ communities or issues.

In the context of this report, “LBQ-specific” funding is defined as funding directed specifically to LBQ communities or issues.

Abbreviation for the words “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual,” “trans/transgender,” “queer,” and “intersex.”

A gender identity that cannot be defined within the gender binary (the categories of woman and man). Non-binary people understand their gender as either in-between or beyond the binary, or they reject the concept of having a gender entirely. Non-binary identities can be either fixed or fluid. Non-binary is a diverse identity, which means that non-binary has become an umbrella term as well as being an identity category in its own right. Other terms sometimes used include genderqueer, gender fluid, and gender non-conforming. Non-binary people who identify with a lesbian, bisexual, or queer sexuality are included as a focus constituency in this report.

A private foundation is a non-governmental, non-profit organization or charitable trust. Its principal fund usually comes from a single source, such as an individual, family, or corporation, and is managed by the foundation’s own trustees or directors. Private foundations support charitable, educational, religious, or other activities serving the public good. A private foundation does not solicit funds from the public.

Public foundations or charities receive funding from the public – donations from individuals and grants from governments and private foundations. Some public foundations/charities give grants, while others provide direct service or other tax-exempt activities.

The word “queer” has been used in the past as a derogatory term for someone perceived to be gay or lesbian. “Queer” has been reclaimed in recent decades and is embraced by many with pride. It is a multi-faceted and complex word. Used as a collective term, it is used as a concise way of referring to all parts of the LGBT community. However, queer also refers to a resistance to and rejection of heteronormative standards, assimilation, dominant notions of “normality,” and respectability politics. It also refers to people who do not fit cultural norms around sexuality and/or gender identity/expression.

Transgender people identify themselves by many different terms, some of which are specific to local cultures, including fa’afafine, travesti, hijra, genderqueer, or transpinoy—to name just a few.

Women’s funds are foundations that have often emerged from feminist movements and raise and distribute money in a way that supports the collective and organized power of grassroots women, girls, trans, and intersex people around the world. They bring contextual awareness to feminist issues, and provide financial resources to groups as well as other resources to realize their vision of social transformation.