As corporate support dwindles, this Fort Lauderdale LGBTQ museum fights to stay afloat
Stonewall National Museum, Archives & Library, a well-respected organization in South Florida’s LGBTQ community, usually has no problem selling out tickets to its fundraising gala.
But this year, there are going to be a lot of empty tables.
With less than a week to go before its third annual Standing on the Shoulders of Heroes Gala on March 1, the Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit, home to one of the largest LGBTQ historical archives in the country, has found itself abandoned by its usual corporate sponsors, said executive director Robert Kesten. As state and federal funding dries up for so-called “DEI” or “woke” programs across the country, Kesten says the 52-year-old museum — along with similar organizations — is facing a crucial threat.
Not only have LGBTQ organizations lost support from governmental institutions and foundations that receive federal funding, but privately-owned corporations and companies have also chosen to cut ties, Kesten said.
“The world has changed since January 20, and our community is high on the chopping block,” Kesten said. “Prior to January 20, our state funding was canceled. And since January 20, we’ve been notified by various funders, from whom we’ve gotten money in the past, that that money is no longer available.”
The shift in support has concerned members of South Florida’s LGBTQ community who say the museum offers an invaluable resource. The museum operates an expansive lending library and preserves LGBTQ historical materials, many of which are one-of-a-kind pieces, which makes having a continuity of funding for their preservation so important. “If these records are destroyed, there will be no way to replace them,” Kesten said.
“Stonewall National is a staple in our community,” said Jason Núñez, the president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce. “It’s not just a place or organization. It tells our story.”
Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed all grant funding for Florida arts and cultural organizations, forcing thousands of nonprofits — including the Stonewall museum — to scramble to seek new sources of funding. Following his inauguration last month, President Donald Trump signed dozens of sweeping executive orders aimed to dismantle government support for DEI programs, remove transgender troops from the military and ban transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports. The websites of several government agencies have removed references to transgender people, shortening the LGBTQ acronym to “LGB.”
The Stonewall museum, which operates on a $1 million budget, lost out on more than $100,000 in state and federal funding in the last year, the organization said in a statement. Donations that would go towards exhibitions have not materialized, and the museum can no longer fill two “absolutely essential” job positions, Kesten said.
One Florida-based foundation that receives federal funding, which Kesten declined to name, has made generous contributions to the museum three years in a row to fund its Women’s History Month exhibit. Not this year. The foundation’s “requirements” changed.
“They used the term ‘family-friendly and accessible to all people,’” Kesten said. “We know that’s code for ‘definitely not LGBTQ,’ even if there is really no conflict with what is being displayed.”
The money raised from the museum’s annual gala typically covers half of its operating and maintenance costs, like rent and salaries. About a fourth of the seats remain unsold, which could pay for a month’s worth of expenses, Kesten said. Notably, corporate support for the gala has evaporated. In previous years, six to 10 corporate sponsors have purchased tables, which range from $5,000 to $25,000 each. This year, there’s just one, Kesten said.
“I would say that people are fearful. I would also say that people are going into survival mode, and if it means cutting us off and people like us off for them to survive, they will do that,” Kesten said. “It’s very reminiscent of what happened during the Second World War. There’s that famous poem: ‘They came for the socialists, and I wasn’t a socialist, so I didn’t speak out. They came for the Jews. I wasn’t a Jew, so I didn’t speak out. And then they came for me, and there was nobody left to speak out for me.’”
Edward Summers, the executive director at Miami-based nonprofit Pridelines, said its critical for the museum to survive.
“We hold their work really in high regard because they’re the ones who tell our story,” Summers said “What’s really, really important to understand is that we face an existential threat of the ‘Blockbuster-ing’ of organizations like Stonewall and Pridelines. At this moment in time, because of the funding challenges, organizations could very well disappear.”
Pridelines, which offers supportive services to the LGBTQ community like health care, has also had to adapt to losing support from both the public and private sectors, Summers said. The group’s ambitious housing project, which would address LGBTQ youth homelessness, is “up in the air” because its at risk of losing its HUD grant. Donations to the organization are down by about 30 percent. And one company, which Pridelines had worked with closely, stopped responding to Summers’ emails.
“We’ve been blatantly discriminated against and ghosted by people who we thought were people who believe in equality, people who believe in fairness, people who view us as equals,” Summers said. “It’s a shame that people who we thought were our allies and supporters aren’t really our allies and supporters.”
Núñez, the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce president, said the community needs to come together to advocate for its organizations, whether its by making small donations or volunteering.
“What are we going to do about it? Because we are the LGBT community. If we want Stonewall National Museum to remain, then we need to act,” he said. “We should not wait on corporate America to give us money so that we can do something. We have to support our own.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 4:30 AM.