Lesbian activism remains an outstandingly underfunded sector within civil society, a fact substantiated by numerous studies. Throughout our activist journeys, we have continually grappled with the discouraging scarcity of resources allocated to address our unique needs.  

This lack of funding has pushed EL*C to take a bold step: resourcing the movement through regranting funds. These efforts aim not just to strengthen our community, but also to make lesbian activism more powerful, moving us closer to a fairer world for lesbians. 

We’re thrilled to announce that starting today, 02.10.2023, the EL*C Grants program is up and running. Thanks to generous support from the European Commission, the EL*C Grants initiative enthusiastically invites all registered member organizations of the EL*C within the European Union, including their overseas territories, to join in.  

Find out more and apply on our dedicated call for proposals page with the application form available in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Greek and German, and with increased readability options for persons with ADHD or dyslexia. If you are more comfortable writing the application in a different EU language, this is also a possibility. Having said that, if you are able to write the proposal in English, we encourage you to do so. 

What can get funded? 

• Desk research, baseline studies can be included (yet research cannot be the main goal of the project)  
• Training actions, study visits, field trips and internships  
• Facilitation of contacts, consultations and discussions between different stakeholders 
• Communication and information activities, including media work  

• Organization of conferences, roundtables, workshops and seminars  
• Promotion of the implementation of adopted laws and regulations  
• Advocacy for the revision of existing legislation and adoption of new legislation in accordance with EU standards and requirements  
• Establishment or continuation of dialogue with political parties, parliamentarians, legislative bodies, local municipality decision-makers or relevant authorities  
• Monitoring of national or local laws and policies, as well as monitoring international commitments, publication of monitoring reports  

• Drafting policy or legislative recommendations  
• Public awareness raising campaigns, including raising lesbian visibility campaigns  
• Publication of leaflets, manuals on best practice  
• Testing of innovative approaches that lead to better protection of rights  
• Internal/organizational capacity development activities  

• Community building, community strengthening activities including outreach and organizing 
• Provision of services to community members (for example psycho-social support, legal aid, other services). 

For more information, we have dedicated info sessions on the following dates, pre-register for participation here: 

• 09 Oct 2023 at 9:00 AM CET  
• 16 Oct 2023 at 5:00 PM CET 

• 30 Oct 2023 at 2:00 PM CET 

For more information about this call for proposal please read carefully the Call for Proposals document. For any doubts or questions, we are here to answer you! Reach us at grants@lesbiangenius.org by 14.11.2023 for answers to any questions big or small. 

NOTE: We’re also actively working on ways to grow our granting efforts, extending to our valued member organizations outside of the EU.