ABOUT OUT FOR EQUALITY
Equality isn't given.
It's built together.
Out For Equality is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization working to advance the human rights of LGBTQIA+ people around the world. We partner with grassroots organizations and local activists, providing strategic guidance, resources, and connections that help turn shared ambitions into meaningful, lasting change.
We believe the people closest to a challenge are often best positioned to create its solutions. Our role is to help them access the support, opportunities, and global relationships they need to move their work forward.
Our story
Out For Equality was founded on a simple belief: equality should never depend on where someone is born or the circumstances in which they live.
Across the world, LGBTQIA+ people continue to face discrimination, exclusion, and threats to their fundamental rights. Yet everywhere, there are individuals and organizations working to change that reality — often with extraordinary determination and limited resources.
We exist to stand alongside them.
Through partnerships with locally led organizations, we help strengthen the people and initiatives advancing equality in their own communities. Our work spans different countries, cultures, and challenges, but shares a common purpose: creating the conditions in which people can live with dignity, opportunity, and freedom.
We don't believe meaningful progress comes from imposing solutions from the outside. It comes from listening, building trust, sharing resources, and supporting those already doing the work.
Our vision
A world where everyone can live authentically, with dignity, freedom, and equal opportunity.
We envision a world in which LGBTQIA+ people are not defined by discrimination or limited by prejudice, but are free to participate fully in their communities and shape their own futures.
A world where identity is never a barrier to safety, education, employment, healthcare, or opportunity.
We know that this world doesn't happen by itself. It takes people willing to act, organizations willing to collaborate, and communities empowered to lead.
We invite you to be part of that work.
Out For Equality's founder, Brian Rusch, with Ricky Martin during a meeting in Mexico to discuss LGBTQ+ issues and human rights in Latin America.
We are not a replacement for local organizations. We help strengthen their ability to do their work.
What we believe: Local leadership. Global solidarity.
We believe lasting change begins with the people who understand their communities, their cultures, and the challenges they face. International support is most meaningful when it respects local knowledge, builds local capacity, and amplifies local leadership.
Our approach is grounded in three principles:
01 / Local leadership
The people closest to the challenges should help shape the solutions.
We work alongside grassroots organizations and activists who understand their communities and lead their own initiatives. We respect their knowledge, experience, and priorities, supporting solutions that are relevant, locally grounded, and sustainable.
02 / Strategic support
Good intentions need resources and the right relationships to become action.
We help connect organizations with financial resources, strategic guidance, fundraising support, and opportunities that strengthen their work. Our aim is not simply to support individual projects, but to help build organizations with the capacity and confidence to grow.
03 / Global connections
Equality advances when people and organizations learn from one another.
We believe local progress can inspire global change. By creating connections across borders, cultures, and communities, we help amplify voices, share experiences, encourage collaboration, and bring greater visibility to the work of our partners.
Change is something we build together.
Progress doesn’t belong to one organization, one country, or one movement. It is the result of people working together, supporting one another, and refusing to accept a world in which equality is out of reach.
Whether you are an individual, a foundation, a business, or an organization, there is a role you can play.
Because equality doesn’t happen by itself.