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News Release
Fund in Memory of Gwen Araujo Announced

Contact: Julie Dorf
Director of Philanthropic Services
415.398.2333 x103		 Date: October 2, 2003
For Immediate Release

On the first anniversary of the savage murder of Gwen Araujo, a 17-year-old living as a male-to-female transgender woman in Newark, California, Horizons Foundation announced the establishment of a special fund named in her honor. The Gwen Araujo Memorial Transgender Education Fund will make grants to support school-based programs in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area that promote understanding of transgender people and issues.

“What happened to Gwen Araujo, her suffering and that of her family, must never happen again,” said Roger Doughty, Horizons’ Executive Director. “The LGBT movement has a history of fighting back, and this fund is a new resource in the continuing struggle against transphobia and hate crimes.”

In keeping with Horizons’ commitment to community involvement in grantmaking, the grants made through the Gwen Araujo Memorial Fund will be advised by an advisory committee of individuals with expertise in transgender issues and school-based advocacy. Horizons has a long history of funding transgender organizations and programs; over the past two years, over 20% of Horizons’ community grants have supported the transgender population of the Bay Area. Establishment of the fund was announced publicly today at Horizons Foundation’s annual “Celebrating Our Communities” event, at which a Cornerstone Award was presented to Gwen Araujo, and accepted on her behalf by her mother, Sylvia Guerrero.



Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Horizons Foundation serves the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community by making grants, strengthening LGBT organizations and leadership, and increasing philanthropic giving.

Click here to make a donation to the Gwen Araujo Memorial Fund for Transgender Education.