Humble beginnings, parental loss, and even a stint in a childhood orphanage defined our early lives. On top of that, being members of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly at that time, meant hiding or denying who we were. Success at that time meant escaping these circumstances and attempting to rebuild our lives. We both realized, individually and then together, that we had to take charge of our own destiny.
Fast forward to today, we have obviously succeeded beyond our own expectations. But success has never been something we took for granted. We always needed to pay that success forward. We’ve been active participants in community organizations that serve teenagers and other clients by helping them to find like-minded peers in safe, welcoming environments for the first time. We’ve seen firsthand how desperately underfunded these organizations tend to be, with no steady or recurring income streams. There are national LGBTQ+ organizations who perform very valuable services for our community, but we knew we wanted to help fund these smaller community groups more directly.
In November 2019, the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation was officially incorporated. Even then we did not fully recognize the impact we could make.
Think back to November 2019: the world was on the brink of a global pandemic, and the then U.S. President seemed intent only on making things worse. Systemic inequity continued to widen the chasm between the haves and the have-nots, and world conflicts continued to claim too many innocent lives.
Plus ça change….
But while negative headlines have seemed to dominate recent history, the work of this Foundation has filled us with unlikely hope and optimism. Whenever we’re invited to speak at various organizations, we emphasize that the joy of giving can be a life changing experience, particularly when careers and other pursuits start to feel empty.
We’ve had the opportunity to engage with inspiring people working day and night to make a meaningful difference in the lives of LGBTQ+ people. These are often folks working for very little, sacrificing their own livelihoods for the benefit of their community. It has been an honor to partner with them through our Community Grants program, which has awarded grants to approximately 100 nonprofit organizations, touching thousands of lives both directly and indirectly.
But grants alone aren’t enough. Knowing that Pride is an important opportunity for LGBTQ+ people to connect with one another, especially outside of large urban centers, we collaborated with Circle Care Center to create a Pride Coalition throughout Connecticut and New York, which has expanded to over 40 towns and continues to be an outlet for organizers of all sizes to network with one another, learn from each other, and offer support and encouragement in an increasingly challenging socio-political climate.
We are especially proud of our role in helping to establish the first ever LGBTQ+ Community Center in Bridgeport, CT, which was incorporated as a 501(c)3 organization in 2024 and is led by a devoted and energetic Board of Directors, which includes two of our very own trustees.
We recently launched two programs centered around some of the more vulnerable members of our community. The TransPLUS Resource Center seeks to support the transgender, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and intersex voices that have historically been relegated to the margins of our movement. And SilverConnect is intended to celebrate a fast-growing segment of our community as we enter our golden years. Keep an eye on this space for much more to come on these initiatives.
Our fellow trustees—Andrew Mitchell-Namdar, Robyn Schlesinger, Anthony Crisci, and Colin Hosten—have become a second family in our shared mission of protecting and expanding LGBTQ+ equality. And we’ve recently added a familiar face to our roster, whose name you might recognize from her decade-plus at the helm of The Loft LGBTQ+ Center in Westchester: Judy Troilo will now act as Executive Consultant to the Foundation, helping us to implement all of the above, and more.
What a difference five years can make. In total, including sponsorships for Pride and fundraising galas, we have awarded or committed over $5 million in charitable donations.
That sounds like a lot, and we’re proud of it, but it’s the individual stories that stick with us most. Like when the Milwaukee LGBTQ Community Center was on the brink of collapse, and our friends at CenterLink connected them with us for emergency funding. With some of our help, they have continued to serve their community without interruption. Denise Spivak at CenterLink said she literally couldn’t think of any other place they could turn to.
That’s why we do what we do. That’s the joy of giving.
Make no mistake: we know that we are heading into some dark times. Our biggest single grant to date has been to Lambda Legal, an organization that has often served as the litigation backstop against threats to LGBTQ+ equality. While we don’t know exactly what 2025 will bring for our community, we know that Lambda is prepared for the fight—as are all the courageous individuals and organizations we’ve been privileged to support these past five years.
And we know that the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation will be right at their side, fighting along with them.
Elliot Leonard and Roger Litz are the Founding Trustees of the Leonard Litz LGBTQ+ Foundation