We’re pleased to announce the launch of The Disability and Sexuality Access Network!

DASANetwork is a community of researchers, practitioners, disabled advocates, allies, students, artists, and more. Their aim is to bring disability-specific issues to the fore of sexology, sexual health services, and sex-positive communities and conversations.

You can support their work by making a tax-deductible donation through The Effing Foundation, becoming a member (it’s free!), and buying their awesome stickers, pictured above. Who wouldn’t love a bumper sticker that says, “If you make it accessible, we will come”? Or “Sexual Education: Don’t fuck with it, don’t fuck without it”? These are timeless messages – and powerful work – we can definitely get behind.

Hello Friends of Effing,

There’s only two weeks left to apply for our next round of funding!

Please send us your sex-positive ideas through our Open Call for Submissions by 11:59 EST on Wednesday, July 31. This one-page survey is quick to fill out, like an elevator pitch about what you do – or what you’re dreaming of doing to create a pleasurable future for all.

Who do we fund?

Education ⁠— Afrosexology by Dalychia & Rafaella, reclaiming Black sexuality through workshops like “Exploring Your Erotic Black Self” and “Opening Communication with Parents & Youth: Continuing Sex Ed at Home”

Community ⁠— Native Youth Sexual Health Network, an organization by and for Indigenous youth that works across issues of sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice throughout the United States and Canada

Art ⁠— Survivor Theatre Project, workshops & performances that empower survivors of sexual violence, inclusive of all genders and sexual orientations

Resources ⁠— Dive Deeper with Goddess Cecilia, a video series exploring sex, sexuality, and surviving while swimming between multiple worlds

Writing ⁠— The Black Trans Prayer Book, co-edited by Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi and J Mase III. In their words, “As beings deserving of care, we wish to claim a radical theology which is honest about our sexual practices.”

Events ⁠— Sex Ed A Go Go, an informative & entertaining variety show featuring sex educator Dirty Lola and a wide range of guests

More information about who we fund is available in our demographics, grant program FAQ, and list of past recipients. Please note we cannot accept applications from individuals or groups located entirely outside the U.S.

Photo by Adipositivity Project

Happy Pride Month!

Here at The Effing Foundation for Sex-Positivity, we’re working toward trans justice and pro-LGBTQIA+ rights year-round.

Our sex-positive movement wouldn’t be what it is today without the trans women of color who have led the way, including Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, and Miss Major Griffin-Gacy – many of whom were sex workers as well as revolutionary leaders. “Indeed, the fight for LGBTQ rights was and is inseparable from the fight for sex workers’ rights,” says Scott Stern in TIME Magazine. “Both movements insist that the police have no right to tell consenting adults how to use their bodies; both movements demand that the state keep out of marginalized folks’ bedrooms.”

We’re proud to say over half of Effing Foundation grantees are queer, and over one-quarter of the folks we’ve funded are trans and/or non-binary. (See our demographics here.) Our team seeks to prioritize educators, artists, and activists who apply personal experience to sex-positivity. In other words, trans people representing trans sexuality, disabled people representing disabled sexuality, polyam people representing polyam sexuality, and so on.

Does that sound like you or someone you know? There’s one month left to apply for our 2020 grant cycle! Please help us spread the word by forwarding this newsletter to friends, reaching out to your favorite sex-positive org, and sharing our Open Call for Submissions on social media. For more info about our grantmaking process, read our FAQ or listen to it on SoundCloud.

Credit: AORTA Films  "Documenting Desire"

Hello Friends of Effing,

As the U.S. battles ongoing anti-abortion legislation, we’re reminded that reproductive justice is a critical aspect of sex ed. Now more than ever, the country needs sex educators and sex-positive art to address the gaps in information that everyday people – and unfortunately most legislators! – are suffering from. That’s why we fund not only sex ed, but specifically marginalized communities who are often left out of sex ed entirely.

If you really care about reproductive justice, you should care about transgender rights – which happens to be the title of an amazing fact sheet by National Women’s Law Center. It covers how reproductive justice extends beyond debates about reproductive organs, requiring health care access for all trans people, economic justice for trans women, and an end to violence against trans communities everywhere.

Hello Friends of Effing Foundation,

This month marks one year since SESTA/FOSTA, and sex workers continue to feel the impact. Meanwhile, these “anti-trafficking” bills have not been used to protect or end sexual violence in any recent court cases. This fallout makes it clear that this legislation is working as intended, to create barriers for sex workers to meet clients, screen for safety, and be seen as professionals using valuable skills to make an income.

That said, we’d like to remind you that our Open Call for Submissions from sex-positive artists and educators will be available May 1. That’s just ten days away! 🎉

We focus on supporting #ownvoices: that is, people who are members of disadvantaged groups doing work grounded in their experiences, and we prioritize projects that do not have other options for grant funding or government support. Learn more about Effing Foundation grants in our FAQ and Demographic Goals.

This spring, we’re excited to kick off of our next grant cycle. Now that we’ve met our second fundraising goal – and are busy onboarding the incredible grantees you helped us support – it’s time to help more sex-positive projects flourish.

“We fund projects that provide hope and critique, art and activism, pleasure and grief, and all the things in between or outside,” shares advisory council member Aida Manduley, LCSW.

Our Open Call for Projects survey will be available for two months, from May 1 to July 31. After reviewing all proposals, our advisory council will invite 16 applicants to participate in the final round of selections in the fall.

You can find the full 2019-2020 grant cycle calendar, along with more information about the application process, on our website. To receive e-mail updates, head to https://www.effing.org/join and check "Send me information and updates about applying to your grant program." We can’t wait to learn how you’re creating a sex-positive future.

Papi Femme embraces Ginny Woolf in (W/HOLE).

Happy February!

We’re definitely feeling the love this month. Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude for your word-of-mouth, donations, and well-wishes that helped us meet our funding goal of $75,000.

Yes, that means all 2019 Effing Foundation grants are now fully funded!

Sending special thanks to the Freeman Foundation for awarding us a grant to support our sex-positive educators and artists.

To learn about the 14 projects we’ve funded this year, visit effing.org. And be sure to follow The Effing Foundation on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates about our grantees’ important work. This week on social, we’ll be recognizing Valentine’s Day by celebrating love in all forms: polyamorous, queer, kinky, monogamous, ace/aromantic – and of course self-love too!

Happy December, friends!

I can hardly believe 2018 is almost over: A year ago we were raising money for our very first pilot grants. We spent the past twelve months helping our grantees do magical things, and then we started the whole process over again!

Honestly, the hardest part of starting a not-for-profit has been the "asking people for money" part, but it's what I've got to do again this month because I want to see a more sex-positive future. We have an outstanding group of grant candidates, and we need your help to get these projects off the ground.

Fund a sex-positive future!

Happy Giving Tuesday!

Today I'm thrilled to announce our 14 amazing grant candidates for this year with sex-positive projects on a wide range of topics, from teaching porn literacy and crafting erotic LARPs to providing support to survivors of sexual assault via podcast. We've just launched our year-end fundraiser to raise $75,000 to make these 14 grants and keep the Foundation moving forward.

Today, 11/27, only, Facebook will match your donation dollar-for-dollar. Please make a gift to support these artists and educators now!

No Facebook? No problem! You can contribute with no fees via PayPal or one of the other methods available on our Donate page.

Happy October, Foundation friends!

There's lots of exciting news to share with you: a new Advisor has joined our council, and we have a new partnership with the Sexplanations Road Tour!

We're thrilled to welcome Cecilia Gentili to our Advisory Council:

Cecilia Gentili (she/her) currently serves as the Managing Director of Policy and Public Affairs at GMHC, the world’s first and leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy. Originally from Argentina, Cecilia found her passion for advocacy and community service when she started working as an intern at the LGBT Community Center in New York City several years ago. From 2012 to 2016, she managed the Transgender Health Program at the Apicha Community Health Center. Cecilia is also a contributor to Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community, and a board member at Transcend Legal and Translatina Network. For fun, she loves performing at storytelling and stand-up comedy events where she talks about her life experiences. Cecilia is very passionate about advocating for her community, especially Latina transgender women who may have a history of sex work, drug use and incarceration.

Cecilia has been making herself right at home, offering all kinds of helpful feedback to this year's grant applicants. I'm so honored to have Cecilia, with her wealth of experience and expertise, join us!