A Day To Remember

Dear friends,

History – our history – took a giant step forward a couple of hours ago. As you’ve likely heard by now, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit just ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

When Will They Be Over?

Maybe now, after Florida’s been counted, they’ll stop. I mean, of course, the Republican primary debates. They seem to take place nearly every night, with their dwindling cast of hopefuls, the often inane questions, the embarrassing school-boy spats among the candidates. Not to mention what sometimes comes out of their mouths.

In case you think I’ve lost my mind, let’s be clear. It’s not that

The View from Horizons

We all know that the world is fairly bursting with blogs, and has been for a while. So why is Horizons Foundation starting one now?

Several reasons. First, it offers a simple way to communicate with Horizons’ donors, grantees, funders, and allies – all of our most important constituencies. A blog also offers a way to share some thoughts with you that won’t overwhelm your inbox (whether online or snail-mail).

Another reason for the blog is that Horizons sits in a unique position. Because our very charter calls for working with and supporting the full range of our resplendently diverse community – diverse by geography, race, gender, issue, class to name a few types – we try to take a broad view of the issues we face. That sometimes allows us to 

A family funeral

Not long ago, I attended a memorial for an aunt, my mother’s last remaining sibling. It took place where she’d lived for nearly 60 years, in Williamstown, a village up in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, nestled up against the New York and Vermont state lines.

An undaunted and undauntable woman, my aunt had been widowed at a young age and raised four children – my cousins – on her own. She’d championed women’s rights for decades, and was nearly elected to the state legislature, which I guarantee you would never have been the same had she made it.

What struck me during the service in the picture-postcard 18^th century, colonial-style church, was this: of her four children, two are straight, one gay, and the other lesbian. All four and their respective spouses, of course, had come.

A Historic Address on LGBT Rights

This letter was sent to Horizons Foundation’s supporters after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council on December 6, 2011, about LGBT rights.

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I just saw something wonderful and astonishing. It came streaming live from the Geneva, Switzerland headquarters of the United Nations Human Rights Council. There, to mark International Human Rights Day, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech an hour or so ago – calling for recognition and protection of the rights of LGBT people. Everywhere. “Gay rights and human rights,” she declared, “are one and the same.”

What happened this morning was once unimaginable.

Welcome to “On the Horizon”

Horizons Foundation is delighted to launch our new blog, On the Horizon.

Here, you’ll find new posts from time to time on the LGBT movement, issues facing nonprofit organizations, philanthropy and giving, and other topics. Most will be from Roger Doughty, Horizons’ Executive Director, and we also plan include guest bloggers on occasion as well.

We hope you enjoy! (And thanks for your patience while we get up and running.)