The Rainbow Prize, worth SEK 100,000, goes to the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) and its CEO Emmett Schelling, whose leadership and activism have been crucial to the organization's work and to the defense of transgender rights in Texas and the United States.

The Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) is a trans-led organization that works to strengthen transgender rights in the state and provide transgender people with access to care and support. In a United States where attacks on transgender rights have increased sharply in recent years, TENT has become an important voice in the resistance to increasingly harsh anti-trans policies. Under Emmett Schelling's leadership, TENT has become one of the most influential trans organizations in the United States.

Some examples of TENT’s work:

· TENT and Emmett Schelling played a central role in stopping the so-called “bathroom bill” in Texas in 2017, which would have forced transgender people to use public restrooms that match the gender they were assigned at birth.

· In 2025, TENT introduced over 100 bills to strengthen the rights and improve the lives of LGBTQ people in Texas. The bills were a response to the over 200 anti-trans and anti-gay bills that were introduced in the state assembly that same year and show that there are alternatives to the hostile and hateful narrative that is increasingly directed at LGBTQ people in the state.

· In the same year, the organization launched a so-called “bill tracker” – a website that lists hostile bills against LGBTQ people in Texas and makes it easier for people to follow and thereby influence the legislative process.

· Through the Know Your Rights: Voting While Trans program, TENT has created a tool to help trans people exercise their democratic right to vote and resist anti-trans intimidation at the polling stations.

· Through safe meeting places, workshops and conversation support, TENT strengthens the entire trans community

Due to US immigration policy, Emmett Schelling cannot risk coming to the Regnbågsgalan in Stockholm on April 20th in person, as he risks being denied re-entry. Instead, Lais Milburn (she/her), AndreaSegovia (she/her) and Diaz Reyes Camacho (he) from TENT will come to the Regnbågsgalan to receive the award in his place.

Trans people in Tanzania live under strong stigma, discrimination and violence. Many are forced to hide their identity for fear of harassment and persecution. Access to basic healthcare is characterized by prejudice, which means that many avoid healthcare.

In this reality, the Tanzania Trans Initiative (TTI) is one of the few actors that offers safety and support. TTI is a trans-led feminist organization that works to empower trans and non-binary people. With a small team and an active board, the organization offers safe meeting places, psychosocial support, vocational training and mentoring, and advocates for improved health and financial security for the community.

With support from the Rainbow Fund, TTI focuses on mental health, sports and economic empowerment for young trans and non-binary people in Tanzania. Activities include support groups, vocational training and agricultural projects.

On February 24, a trial will begin against The Russian LGBTQ Network, Russia’s largest LGBTQ organization.It will most likely be designated as extremist, which would mean a total ban on its activities.

Employees and volunteers risk being sentenced to up to 12 years in prison. They must flee Russia as quickly as possible.Regnbågsfonden is providing emergency support to help them.

Update: The Russian LGBTQ Network has succeeded in having its trial postponed until April, giving them more time to prepare and evacuate volunteers and staff. However, the danger is far from over, and based on other similar cases, a guilty verdict is expected.

The United States has withdrawn support for antiretroviral treatments in Africa, which now risks a new epidemic with millions of deaths. The Rainbow Fund supports a clinic that offers HIV-positive people the life-saving medication.

In Uganda, homosexuality is illegal, with penalties ranging from ten years in prison to life imprisonment, and in some cases even the death penalty. The law criminalizing same-sex relations, introduced in 2023, has led to a sharp increase in stigma, harassment, arbitrary arrests, and violence against LGBTQ people and the organizations that support them. Organizations that provided legal support, mental-health services, and sexual health care have been subjected to raids or forced to close, leaving many without secure access to care. LGBTQ people living with HIV have long been excluded from government services and are entirely dependent on civil society. In turn, LGBTQ organizations are highly reliant on international funding to implement their programs.When U.S. development aid was cut in 2025, the most vulnerable were left completely without life-saving support.The Rainbow Fund will collaborate with one of the severely affected organizations, which has provided essential care through its community clinic since 2012. The clinic offers HIV testing, STI screening and treatment, follow-up care, PrEP (both injectable and oral), as well as mental-health support led by a clinical psychologist. Due to the current budget cuts, the organization no longer receives the support needed to maintain its operations. Peer educators and healthcare staff are working without pay, and shrinking global funding streams place both the clinic—and the community members who depend on it—in serious jeopardy. This creates urgent challenges for sustaining care and preventing further spread of HIV.

Situationen i Kenya är mycket hård. Samkönade relationer är kriminaliserade, hatkampanjer från politiska och religiösa aktörer ökar, och regnbågspersoner utsätts för våld, utpressning, vräkningar och ”outing”.

GALCK+ är Kenyas nationella paraplyorganisation för över 20 hbtqi-ledda grupper och har sedan 2006 arbetat för att stärka rättigheter, säkerhet och hälsa för hbtqi-personer i hela landet. Organisationen bygger kapacitet hos sina medlemsorganisationer, skapar allianser med myndigheter och civilsamhälle, och leder nationell samordning av hbtqi-frågor. Trots ett hårt motstånd har GALCK+ lyckats bygga upp starka skyddsnät. Deras akuta säkerhetsinsatser stödjerhundratals personer varje år och deras program för psykiskt stöd har gett tusentals terapisessioner som hjälpt communityt att återhämta sig.

Regnbågsfondens stöd till GALCK+ fokuserar på två akuta behov: säkerhetsarbetet genom 29 lokala säkerhetsresponsgrupper som snabbt rycker in vid hot, attacker eller förföljelse, och psykologiskt stöd genom professionell krishjälp, rådgivning och uppföljning för dem som utsatts för våld eller trakasserier.

Målet är att öka säkerheten, stärka återhämtningen och bygga långsiktiga community-ledda skyddssystem i ett samhälle där hbtqi-personers livsutrymme snabbt krymper.

Blue Diamond Society (BDS) is Nepal’s first and largest LGBTQI-led organization, founded in 2001. They work nationally with 35 local groups to strengthen the rights, health and safety of LGBTQI people. BDS provides HIV prevention, legal support, mental health counseling, humanitarian aid and advocacy. They have been instrumental in getting LGBTQI rights included in Nepal’s constitution and have played an important role in obtaining the historic court decision that opened up same-sex marriage registrations.

Despite this, LGBTQI people in Nepal still face serious discrimination, lack of access to healthcare, threats, violence and obstacles in dealing with authorities. Implementation of laws is slow, and resistance from the anti-gender movement is growing.

The project, which BDS is implementing with support from the Rainbow Fund, will strengthen security, rights and community support through training for politicians and authorities, increased security for both the organization and the community, campaigns that address hate and disinformation, legal and psychological support for victims, local mobilization in all seven provinces of Nepal, as well as documentation and storytelling for increased visibility. The goal is to improve security, strengthen resilience and create positive change in a political climate where LGBTQI rights are under increasing attack.