News Stories

David Bohnett Foundation Awards $500,000 to Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the nation's lesbian and gay media advocacy group, announced today the receipt of $250,000, the largest annual gift received in its history. It is the first installment of a two-part gift from the Los Angeles-based David Bohnett Foundation (www.bohnettfoundation.org). A second installment of equal amount will be made early next year.”

“David's generosity is tremendous,” said GLAAD Executive Director Joan M. Garry. “But, more than that, his commitment to the lesbian and gay community is long-standing and his support of equal rights and fair treatment comes from his core beliefs. We at GLAAD appreciate his confidence in us to continue our fight against defamation of our community in the media”

Bohnett is the founder of GeoCities (http://geocities.yahoo.com/home/), an Internet server that has a large gay and lesbian presence. After selling the company to Yahoo! last May, he endowed the foundation with $32 million.

“I have been a supporter of GLAAD since its founding because I believe in its mission and its message,” Bohnett said. “Whether GLAAD is working to prevent Dr. Laura from defaming the community or publishing resource guides about the potential harm of Internet filtering software, I feel confident in knowing that this gift will allow GLAAD to continue to fight for us all.”

Bohnett also has donated to such organizations as the L. A. Gay & Lesbian Center (www.laglc.org) for the construction of the David Bohnett CyberCenter for those without Internet access; the No On Knight campaign, which mobilized against California's Proposition 22; the Family Pride Coalition (www.familypride.org), an organization by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender parents; People for the American Way (www.pfaw.org); and to several AIDS organizations. He was recently named chairman of the board of directors for Online Partners Inc., (www.onlinepartners.com) the parent company of Gay.com

Now in its 16th year, GLAAD is a national organization dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in all media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.