Insights
How NFTs And Crypto Philanthropy Are Helping Outright Fight For LGBTIQ Human Rights Everywhere
Outright is dedicated to searching for new and innovative ways to uplift and support the global LGBTQIA+ community. Although our global movement is severely under-resourced and faces increasing threats, there has been significant social and legal change over the last few decades and we believe there is a pivotal opportunity to radically accelerate equality everywhere. However, we need more allies to be successful in our efforts. This unwavering motivation and commitment has led us to the world of NFT and cryptocurrency philanthropy! NFTs and cryptocurrency have truly taken the world by storm. From expanding the ways in which one can be an activist to fostering and inspiring a new wave of art movements, NFTs in particular are emerging as a vital avenue for 21st century philanthropy, community building, and creative expression.
Since Outright started accepting donations of cryptocurrency through platforms like The Giving Block and Endaoment, the amount of support we’ve received has been phenomenal. We have truly been inspired by the many artists, creators, collectors and investors who’ve supported and contributed to our mission. Here are just a few of them:
Generative NFT Projects
Several generative NFT projects that celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion have included Outright as a charity partner. In fact, Outright’s second-largest crypto donation came from Not Your Bro, a project which centers on the empowerment and celebration of all Womxn & LGBTQIA+ people and dedicated 2.5% of their initial mint sales to Outright. Artist and co-founder of Not Your Bro, Natalie explains why she and her co-founder and partner Georgia support Outright:
Quote from Natalie H.
As proud members of the LGBTQIA+ community, we know first-hand the daily struggles of living your truth. As gay women ourselves it would be an honour to support Outright. It makes me so happy to have been able to make this donation. I love the work that you do. Our support of Outright will be forever.
Another generative NFT project that selected Outright as its inaugural charity partner is Women Tribe, whose mission is to help women and all people embrace their inner divinity and power. Women Tribe founder and artist Izzy said of our partnership, which supports Outright’s new LBQ Connect program for lesbian, bisexual and queer activists:
Quote from Izzy
I feel honored that you reached out to me and my project. No words can describe the amount of excitement I am experiencing knowing that we can do something for the great cause behind Outright. Believe me when I say that I'm so happy to have met Outright and I can't wait to see what we do in the future together.
Several other generative NFT projects have also contributed to Outright, including our very first NFT donation in September 2021 from BitBaddies, which focuses on feminine beauty, empowerment and allyship with the LGBTQ community. We also received support in 2021 from Uncanny Unicorns, a family-run collection centering around family, community, and acceptance, and from @EATOSHINAKAMOTO, who has created an LGBT crypto token and an NFT project and donated to Outright along with other queer organizations.
A more recent donation came from HunnysNFT’s NFT Queens collection, which spotlights 80 women and gender diverse artists and supports many causes, including Outright. Founder Stacy shared: “We love to support all types of charities and especially bridging the gap between women and non-binary individuals in this space!”
Upcoming partners include Queer Rise, Queer Friends, Quinley Quokka, Diversity Ladies, and New Wave Surf Club, among others. All of these teams have taken the time to get to know Outright, invited us to share our work on Twitter Spaces, and have publicly pledged some initial support from their projects to Outright. Thanks to all of these creators and communities for their support, and we look forward to unveiling additional partnerships soon!
NFT Artists & Collectors
The world of cryptocurrency has also enabled us to connect with many 1/1 NFT artists and collectors who have teamed up with Outright in support of our mission. A common theme among many of our partners is acceptance and self-love, which is critical because many LGBTIQ people have historically been rejected, mistreated and even demonized by family, friends, faith communities, government officials, and more. Lori Grace Bailey, a photographer, curator and host in the web3 space, is dedicated to this very mission of radical acceptance — and she has already auctioned three of her photographs to raise funds for Outright! Lori explains:
Quote from Lori Grace Bailey
I love the good work of Outright, which advocates for equal rights globally for LGBTQIA+ people like myself. Having donated close to 3 ETH over the last several months to Outright has meant the world to me, and that's why I keep coming back. Even a little NFT artist like myself can make impactful change, you just have to believe that you matter and so do those you're helping. Change can happen. Change will happen. One day in our lives we'll see real equality and equity!
In addition, several notable NFT artists and collectors have been standing up and speaking out against homophobia and transphobia in the web3 space. XCOPY, a London-based, pioneering crypto artist, created a “Grifter Fund” that has contributed to various causes, including LGBTIQ rights through Outright and other organizations. Other philanthropic artists have also contributed to the Grifter Fund, including Antonius Oki (Foodmasku). NFT investor and Founder of Rug Radio Farokh recently donated a portion of the proceeds of the fuckhomophobia.eth campaign to Outright. And web3 art dealer and World of Women Royalty Club collector Divine Femininity also made a generous gift to help Outright combat systemic discrimination and abuse towards the LGBTQI+ community globally and work toward our goal that one day, human rights will be universally accepted and respected.
Finally, Outright has been supported by Lauren YS, artists from Women of Crypto Art, and several other 1/1 artists through DoinGud, a platform that brings artists, collectors and causes together for social change; and by Art Blocks, a groundbreaking generative art platform which supported Outright through its community-selected grants program.
Ukraine Relief Efforts
NFTs and cryptocurrency have even been instrumental in Outright initiative to support LGBTIQ+ people impacted by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Several cryptocurrency partners have contributed to our Ukraine Relief Fund, which has raised more than $1.5M to support local partners on the ground in Ukraine and neighboring countries! To date, our largest crypto donation has come from Ukraine DAO, a project organized by Pussy Riot, Trippy Labs, PleasrDAO and others to support Ukrainians suffering from the war.
Other Ukraine relief partners include:
- RELI3F - a web3 initiative with renowned artists and collectors organized by Andrew Wang, Satvik Sethi, and many others dedicated to humanitarian relief. Satvik recently shared, “The work that @OutRightIntl does for LGBTQ empowerment is important. Historically marginalized & discriminated against groups face further exclusion in crisis & these resources will help. We are glad to support their work!”
- Tezos Artists for Ukraine -a collaboration of hundreds of artists and collectors on the Tezos blockchain to help Outright and several other charities provide relief to Ukraine, supported by fxhash, Versum, #ArtForUkraine, DPZ, Organic Material, #PhotezforUkraine, and many others.
- Bobaverse - a generative, women-, LGBTQ- and minority-led NFT project dedicated to investing back in marginalized and disenfranchised communities and increasing appreciation and representation for Asian cultures throughout the world.
- Queer Friends and Quinley Quokka, both LGBTIQ-led collections focusing on spreading a message of inclusion and acceptance, which have both pledged part of their current or soon-to-be-minting project sales to Outright’s Ukraine Fund.
Everyone at Outright is extremely grateful for the incredible support we’ve received from our NFT and crypto philanthropy donors. Special thanks to the teams at The Giving Block and Endaoment, who helped facilitate these contributions and are committed to growing crypto philanthropy to support Outright and other important causes. We could not be more thankful for the creativity of and solidarity from partners who are helping us radically accelerate global justice and equality for all LGBTIQ+ people. Because of your support, we are pioneering groundbreaking research about our community, providing tangible, vital support to grassroots LGBTIQ+ activists and organizations around the world, and advocating for LGBTIQ+ human rights at United Nations headquarters and beyond. You can learn more about our impact over the last 31 years in our 2020 Annual Report.
We are looking forward to sharing additional, exciting new collaborations soon and we always welcome new partners. Support our work by donating crypto to Outright.
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