The Ford Foundation was created in 1936 by Henry Ford and his son, Edsel. What began with $25,000 in seed money has since blossomed into a massive, $12.4 billion philanthropic force for good. Today, the Foundation donates more than $500 billion each year to initiatives focused on social justice and human achievement.

Earlier this week, the Foundation’s president, Darren Walker, appeared on Bloomberg Business to talk about the Foundation’s new objectives, which aim to reduce inequality on a global scale. And although the LGBT community continues its halting struggle toward equality on many fronts, Walker said that the Foundation would scale back its funding of LGBT organizations because of our recent successes:

[If the video above looks weird or small or isn’t cooperating, click here.]

Now, in Walker’s defense, he’s not saying that the Foundation has completely eliminated its LGBT rights initiative. The cuts target the U.S. portion of that program.

But surely he knows that millions of LGBT Americans can still be fired or evicted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. This summer’s marriage equality decision from the Supreme Court was a huge win for those who want to get married, and it does seem to many of us that the tide has definitively turned in our favor. But the fact is, coast-to-coast civil rights protections for LGBT individuals don’t yet exist, despite what many people think.

Hopefully, Walker and his board of directors understand that. We also hope that they’re increasing funding for LGBT programs in other parts of the world, where gays, lesbians, and transfolk face far harder lives — even death.

[Via Towleroad]