The U.S. federal government is spending over $1 million to fund LGBT mentorship programs and clubs for children as young as 12 through an activist organization that supports body-mutilating interventions for minors who identify as the opposite sex.
An initiative of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the Lifeworks Mentorship program, matches LGBT-identifying youth 24 and under with an adult who can help them be their “absolute best selves.” As the group’s IRS 990 forms indicate, it received $162 million in revenue in 2023.
The mentorship program mentors provide support in “goal-setting through five achievement areas: home, health, education, career, and personal development,” according to the Los Angeles LGBT Center website.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.
“Each Mentor is trained with skills to be there for their mentee — not as parents or teachers, but as people who are there to guide them in being their absolute best selves. The LifeWorks Mentoring program begins with a 12-month commitment between a mentor-mentee but for many turns into a lifelong bond,” the description on the site continues.
According to the data, the U.S. federal government granted $910,000 in support of the program, funding it through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, a subset of the Department of Health and Human Services.
At the time of reporting, $574,013 of the grant money has been disbursed, with additional money to follow until the end of the grant term, which is in August 2025. The HHS is scheduled to provide $250,000 and $375,000 in grant funding to the Los Angeles LGBT Center to fund the Lifeworks Community Action Network.
The term for the $250,000 and $375,000 grants is slated to end in 2027, but the funding has yet to be disbursed.
As the Los Angeles LGBT Center explains on its website, the CAN initiative exists to “strengthen” LGBT clubs on middle school and high school campuses. The group states on its site that leaders of these groups are “trained in facilitation skills to build community and create social change, thereby supporting students on their campuses.”
The training consists of “LGBTQ competency and awareness” and “safe spaces and inclusivity.”
The Los Angeles LGBT Center and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment.
On its website, the Los Angeles LGBT Center condemns President Donald Trump’s executive order that called for the removal of federal funding from medical schools and hospitals that condone life-altering, experimental treatments for gender dysphoric children. The LGBT activist group claimed the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles sent a “demoralizing” message by complying with the order.
In addition, the activist group has expressed support for allowing men who identify as female to compete on women’s sports teams, “calling for federal protection of transgender students’ right to participate in high school sports.”
The Trump administration has started to raise concerns about taxpayers funding LGBT programs.
Earlier this month, the White House released a statement highlighting several reports on how the U.S. Agency for International Development has spent tax dollars during previous presidential administrations.
For example, federal records show that the activist group Asociacion Lambda received a $2 million grant from USAID to fund organizations that provide so-called “gender-affirming care,” like body-mutilating gender surgeries and LGBT activism.
Other reported expenditures highlighted by the White House include $70,000 for the production of a “DEI musical” in Ireland and $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
