Los Angeles – The David Bohnett Foundation, a Los Angeles based foundation dedicated to improving society through social activism, made a $75,000 donation to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in Washington, DC. The donation allowed the HRC to host the first conference for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students from historically black colleges and universities.

The conference, hosted by the HRC in Washington, DC, Feb. 27-28, was attended by Michael Fleming, executive director of the Bohnett Foundation. “We are honored to have played an integral part of this historic conference,” Fleming said. “The Bohnett Foundation supports LGBT communities across America and spreading a message of tolerance and acceptance. This conference for students at black colleges and universities was a first, and provided an opportunity to shine a light on a very important segment of society that needs our support.”

A new publication was released at the conference, the “Resource Guide to Coming Out for African Americans,” from the HRC Foundation's National Coming Out Project. This resource guide is the first to focus on the needs of the LGBT Gay community and offers a positive and insightful resource for a community that has traditionally been overlooked. The HRC is the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender political organization with members throughout the country.

“The student conference and the new coming out guide are important pieces of HRC's work in communities of color,” said Cheryl Jacques, president of the HRC. “These students are doing inspiring work on their campuses. Through this conference, we are equipping them with the tools they need to succeed. We are very grateful to the Bohnett Foundation for their support.”

In addition to supporting the HRC, The David Bohnett Foundation encourages grant proposals from non-profit organizations with 501(c)(3) designations whose mission and programs are closely aligned with any one of the following areas: Promotion of positive portrayals of the LGBT community in the media; voter registration; animal language research; reduction of handguns in the U.S.; community based social services that benefit gays and lesbians; development of mass transit and non-fossil fuels.

The Foundation also supports 18 David Bohnett CyberCenters across the United States offer educational, research, and recreational opportunities to the local gay and lesbian community via access to the Internet in Los Angeles, New York, Long Island, Boston, Orange County, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, Tucson, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Burlington, Cape Cod and West Palm Beach.

For more information, visit: www.bohnettfoundation.org.

Press contact: Rob Wynne, 310.924.1710 Seth Jacobson, 310.592.3900

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