Arkansas Community Foundation Gives $750K to Pro-LGBT Initiatives

LGBT, Transgender,

In February the Arkansas Community Foundation announced that it awarded 21 grants to organizations conducting pro-LGBT initiatives in Arkansas — and that the foundation will award additional grants in the coming weeks.

The grants are part of a $1 million fund that the Walton Family Foundation launched last year, and have been supplemented with additional funding from the Withrop Rockefeller Foundation.

According to a press release from Arkansas Community Foundation, grants are going to the following:

GranteePurpose
Arkansas Black Gay Men’s ForumTo host the Central Arkansas LGBTQ+ Awards and Little Rock Black Pride Festival
Arkansas Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics FoundationTo educate Arkansas pediatric health professionals on LGBTQ-friendly care and advocacy
Arkansas Humanities CouncilTo host a lecture series and panel discussions highlighting LGBTQ+ history and culture
Arkansas RAPPS, Inc.To establish a community wellness resource center in Little Rock
Central Arkansas Library System FoundationTo create a Gender and Sexualities Alliance (GSA) for teens and young adults
Central Arkansas PrideTo host the Kaleidoscope LGBTQ+ Film Festival
Club Z at Sweet HouseTo support basic needs, counseling and wraparound support for LGBTQ+ youth in the Fort Smith area
Equality CrewTo provide resources for LGBTQ+ youth and to conduct research on quality of life issues for LGBTQ+ youth
Eureka Springs Downtown Network/Main Street Eureka SpringsTo provide entrepreneurship training for LGBTQ+ artists and makers
Ferncliff Camp & Conference CenterTo provide scholarships for children and families to participate in Rainbow Family Camp
Foster LoveTo recruit, train and support foster families for LGBTQ+ foster children
Gay For GoodTo host inclusive events and volunteer service projects to increase LGBTQ+ visibility and build allies.
Good Shepherd Lutheran ChurchTo host camps and activities for queer youth and allies
The Transition ClosetTo provide gender-affirming clothing and accessories for transgender and non-binary Arkansans
Hot Springs AIDS Resource Center, Inc.To provide health education and support for individuals with HIV/AIDS in Southwest Arkansas
IntransitiveTo provide peer-to-peer support, outreach, advocacy and basic needs for transgender Arkansans
Legal Aid of ArkansasTo provide dedicated legal services for LGBTQ+ Arkansans
Lucie’s PlaceTo provide assistance with housing and basic needs for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults
NEA ProgressTo host Northeast Arkansas PRIDEfest
PowerHub, Inc.To conduct outreach, support and community-building activities for LGBTQ+ youth in the Batesville area
SpinsterhavenTo establish a nurturing outdoor space for meetings and events for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies

Many grants reportedly range between $25,000 to $150,000.

This is not the first time that the Walton Family Foundation has pushed a radically pro-LGBT agenda in Arkansas.

Besides funding pro-LGBT grants, the Walton Family Foundation also has opposed the Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act in court.

The SAFE Act is a 2021 law that protects children in Arkansas from sex-reassignment procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

Researchers do not know the long term effects puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can have on kids. That is why many experts agree that giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children is experimental, at best.

The ACLU and others have filed a lawsuit to block the State of Arkansas from enforcing the SAFE Act, and the Walton Family Foundation is among those who have opposed the law.

Family Council will continue to monitor these pro-LGBT grant programs in the coming days.

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Second FOIA Request Yields 200+ Pages of Documents From UAMS

Transgender, ,

On March 2, Family Council sent a Freedom of Information Act Request to UAMS in Little Rock requesting the following:

  1. Any and all information (including educational materials in any medium) made available within the past five years to patients or their parents/guardians concerning treatment with a hormone, hormone suppressant, and/or pubertal blocker for the following conditions:
    • Gender identity disorder
    • Gender dysphoria
    • Gender incongruence
  2. Any and all information (including copies of blank consent forms) used within the past five years for the purpose of obtaining a patient’s or parent/guardian’s informed consent to treatment with a hormone, hormone suppressant, and/or pubertal blocker for the same conditions lifted in 1. above.

The FOIA request is part of ongoing research regarding puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones used for gender-transition in Arkansas. Family Council has previously sent Freedom of Information Act Requests to UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

In response, UAMS sent Family Council more than 200 pages of documents.

Among other things, the documents include:

In 2021 the Arkansas Legislature passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act.

The SAFE Act is an excellent law that protects children from sex-reassignment procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

Researchers do not know the long term effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can have on children.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has never approved puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of gender transition. Doctors are giving these hormones to kids off-label, in a manner the FDA never intended.

That is part of the reason many experts agree that giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children for the purpose of gender transition is experimental, at best.

UAMS operates a pro-transgender Gender Clinic that offers hormone replacement therapies and referrals for sex-change surgeries. However, many people know very little about how medical professionals utilize hormones and puberty blockers for sex-change procedures in Arkansas.

The ACLU and others filed a lawsuit against the SAFE Act last summer, before the law officially took effect, and a federal judge in Little Rock has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing it.

Several business interests and the Biden-Harris Administration also have joined the fight against Arkansas’ SAFE Act.

Arkansas’ Attorney General has appealed that order to the Eighth Circuit to let the state enforce the SAFE Act. A trial in the case is scheduled for October.

Download UAMS’s Full Response to Family Council FOIA Request Here.

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Arkansas’ SAFE Act Goes to Trial October 17, 2022

LGBT, Transgender,

Last week the U.S. District Court in Little Rock announced the lawsuit over Arkansas’ Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act will go to trial sometime during the week of October 17, 2022.

The court previously scheduled the trial to take place during the week of July 25, but apparently rescheduled the trial in a Revised Final Scheduling Order on February 28.

The Arkansas Legislature overwhelmingly passed the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act last year.

The SAFE Act is an excellent law that protects children from sex-reassignment procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones.

Researchers do not know the long term effects that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones can have on kids.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has never approved puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the purpose of gender transition. Doctors are giving these hormones to kids off-label, in a manner the FDA never intended.

That is part of the reason many experts agree that giving puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children is experimental, at best.

That is also why a major hospital in Sweden announced last year that it would no longer administer puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to children.

Unfortunately, the ACLU and others filed a lawsuit against the SAFE Act last summer, before the law officially took effect.

Several business interests and the Biden-Harris Administration also have joined the fight against Arkansas’ SAFE Act.

Last July, U.S. District Judge James Moody temporarily blocked the state from enforcing the law while the lawsuit progresses. Arkansas’ Attorney General has asked the Eighth Circuit to lift his order so that the state can start enforcing the law right away.

In the meantime, the lawsuit over the SAFE Act’s constitutionality is progressing and will go to trial this fall. It is unclear when Judge Moody’s court might make a decision in the case.

Arkansas’ SAFE Act protects children. We believe federal courts ultimately will recognize that fact and uphold this good law as constitutional.

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