Lambda Legal Receives $100K Challenge Grant

Lambda Legal has received a $100,000 challenge grant from Board Member Karen Dixon and her wife, Nan Schaffer (pictured), who are longtime Lambda Legal supporters.

Says Dixon:

In honor of Kevin Cathcart's 20th anniversary and the progress Lambda Legal and the entire movement has made under his leadership, we decided to dig deeper and are offering a $100,000 Challenge Grant to find at least 20 new donors who can give $5,000 or above. This is substantially more than we've given before and we are challenging other donors to do the same. As the single most effective LGBT advocacy organization in the country, Lambda Legal is the best investment in equality.

If this isn't motivation enough, then donors should consider the next caller to Lambda Legal's Help Desk—an individual or a family facing a real crisis because of discrimination they have faced based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. We need to ensure that the dedicated staff at Lambda Legal has the resources to continue responding to these calls with compassion, empathy, respect and outstanding legal strategy.

The challenge applies to new or existing donors who will give $5,000 or to all other major donors who increase their gifts. To participate in the challenge, call 212-809-8585 or visit www.lambdalegal.org/100k

In 20 years as Executive Director, Cathcart has made Lambda Legal an unparalleled national force through its far-reaching litigation and public education. Lambda Legal's groundbreaking work includes the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court victory striking down Texas' "Homosexual Conduct" law and all remaining state sodomy laws in the nation. The landmark ruling continues to impact all areas of LGBT people's lives, and Cathcart has mapped out a wide-ranging strategy for Lambda Legal to turn its historic court victory into a reality in people's everyday lives. In 2009, Lambda Legal won a historic and unanimous court victory for marriage equality in Iowa, extending the organization's record of history-making accomplishments.

Other programs begun or expanded during Cathcart's tenure include Lambda Legal's Out-of-Home Care Project to improve care of lesbian and gay youth in foster care and other institutional settings; continued defense of the legal rights of people with HIV; and a transgender rights project. With its Marriage Project, Lambda Legal plays a leading role in litigation and education to win the freedom to marry. Under his guidance, Lambda Legal has opened three regional offices in addition to the headquarters office in New York and the Los Angeles office: Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas—so that its attorneys and educators can reach LGBT people and people with HIV in every region of the country.