April 29, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
A Los Angeles foundation is working to improve access to technology among gays and lesbians.
The David Bohnett Foundation has announced that it plans to spend more than $350,000 this year to provide new technology equipment to gay and lesbian community centers the foundation has previously supported.
Over the past five years, the Bohnett Foundation has awarded grants to 18 gay and lesbian community centers to build technology laboratories. The two newest centers will open in June in Burlington, Vt., and Kansas City, Mo. The cyber center at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, the first to receive support from the Bohnett Foundation, celebrated its grand re-opening earlier this month by unveiling 15 new work stations.
Michael Fleming, the foundation’s executive director, says the computer centers are especially important for gay and lesbian youths. “If you were looking up resources for gay teens, it’s important that you be able to look at that online without feeling like everybody in the place is looking over your shoulder,” he says.
David Bohnett founded GeoCities, an e-commerce company, which became publicly traded in 1998 and was acquired by Yahoo in 1999. Mr. Bohnett started the foundation, which currently has an endowment of just over $30-million, the same year.
For more information: Go to http://www.bohnettfoundation.org.
