Greetings!

August 1, 2025

Only seven years ago, our grantmaking began with a bold vision. Today, 112 organizations across Texas — from rural towns to urban centers — have applied for support from the state’s only LGBTQ+ community foundation.



This milestone isn’t just a number. It’s a reflection of growing trust, statewide visibility, and the urgent needs of LGBTQ+ communities in Texas. Applications came in from across the state: 40 from the Northeast, 25 from the Central region, 17 from the South, 20 from the Southeast, and 8 from the West — with two applications from out of state. A 25% increase from 2024.

While the demand is greater than ever, so is the opportunity to uplift local leadership and fuel impact. Thank you to everyone who has made this growth possible.

This August, during Make-A-Will Month, we invite you to consider the power of legacy — not just to fund the future, but to preserve love, memory, and meaning.

Earlier this year, Texas Pride Community Foundation received a modest but deeply meaningful gift made in memory of Jay Hollenburger, Jr., the last surviving member of a remarkable Houston throuple: Jay, Arthur Slaughter, and Gary Grether — known to friends as “JAG.”

Jay and Arthur met at Rice in the early ’60s and were living openly as a couple long before it was safe or accepted. In 1970, they welcomed Gary into their partnership. “I don’t love you any less, but I love this man as well,” they said. Together, they built a life full of joy, community, and unapologetic visibility.

Their Montrose home (Houston) was a hub of chosen family and fearless celebration — from their drag-and-volleyball “Follyball” to legendary dinner parties. Over 25 years, they documented it all in more than 9,700 Polaroids, meticulously labeled to ensure they’d be remembered.

Their remarkable story of love, legacy, and chosen family has recently been featured in both OUT Magazine and The Advocate, bringing national attention to a life lived unapologetically in Houston.

After Jay’s passing in 2024, an archivist purchased the photo collection at his estate sale. Moved by JAG’s story, the archivist donated a portion of the proceeds to a nonprofit Jay would have supported — a small but powerful act of legacy giving.

This gift reminds us: what we leave behind matters. If you haven’t created or updated your will, we hope you’ll consider including Texas Pride Community Foundation. Your story — like JAG’s — can help shape the future.

August is Make-A-Will Month — and a Time to Reflect on Lives Lived Boldly. Let’s build a future as bold as JAG’s past.

Grantee Spotlight:

Breaking Stigma, Building Power

On July 25–26, The Freelux Project—a 2024 Community Grant recipient of Texas Pride Community Foundation—hosted the inaugural North Texas Stigma Reduction Summit. This bold, two-day gathering centered the urgent need to confront stigma as a root cause of negative health outcomes, a fact widely recognized in public health and social determinants of health frameworks.

With vital support from health equity leaders—including ViiV Healthcare, CAN Community Health, Abounding Prosperity Inc., Gilead, AIDS Outreach Center, and Dallas County EHE—the summit pushed the boundaries of what's possible when community care, advocacy, and public health come together to dismantle the barriers LGBTQ+ people continue to face.

From the premiere of All the Broken Pieces to sessions on creative resistance, public health representation, and the real impact of funding cuts, the summit modeled what it means to do transformative, stigma-breaking work at the innovative edge of health justice.

Texas Pride Community Foundation is proud to support The Freelux Project and all those building a Texas where LGBTQ+ people—especially those living with HIV—are seen, heard, and able to thrive without shame or systemic harm.

Questions? Ideas? Comments? We are all ears. 

Write to us at info@TexasPrideCF.org.