$300 million pledged to supporting LGBT+ protections in America
(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
A multimillionaire tech company has pledged $300 million to support LGBT+ equality in America.
Tim Gill of the Gill Foundation has said that he will “punish the wicked”, those who oppose legislation which protects the LGBT+ community.
The pledge comes as Gill is a staunch supporter of LGBT rights.
He grew up in a Republican family and made his millions after selling software start up Quark for $500 million 1992.
Since then, he has continued to make fortunes as a programmer.
He has now moved 60 percent of his assets into the Gill Foundation.
The foundation was created to help fund the fight against the persecution of LGBT+ people.
“It’s the religious right that decided to make marriage an issue.
“They worked tirelessly on it for decades, and they lost,” Gill explained.
One of his main focuses as an activist is defeating religious liberty legislation.
In recent years, Gill has fought a proposed Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Georgia, which he defeated through founding a protest group – Georgia Prospers.
The group drafted an opposition petition which drafted major businesses including Coca-Cola to oppose the bill which was ultimately vetoed.
Speaking about his activism, Gill explained that he often feels discouraged by the disproportionate hate that the LGBT+ community faces.
“When I look around the country, I see people that are victims of hate crimes,” he said.
As well as funding campaigns, the Foundation has also been involved with politics.
