NOTE: To download a PDF version of this report, please click here.
Fuerzas Unidas
Fuerzas Unidas, an organization ostensibly aimed at increasing availability of public sector services for Spanish-speaking families with disabled family members, received its second-ever grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) in the most recent grants list (FY 2020-2021) of $50,000 for “Disability Rights,” raising the all-time total of CCHD contributions to Fuerzas Unidas to $75,000.
In direct violation of CCHD grant guidelines, Feurzas Unidas actively participated in a pro-homosexual, pro-transgender festival, and is a member of prohibited coalitions because they are involved in the promotion of activities contrary to Catholic moral teaching.
On June 1, 2021, Fuerzas Unidas celebrated “Pride Month,” saying, “Happy Pride Month! As you celebrate the people you love, honor them by helping to preserve California as a place to call home for years to come.”
On June 2, 2021, Fuerzas Unidas actively promoted its participation in the “Lodi Pride Festival” in Lodi, CA, saying “Come join us on June 5th! Fuerzas Unidas leaders will be offering informational materials about Time of Use. #KeepItGolden”
On June 4, Feurzas Laboral asked people to join them at the Lodi Pride Festival where they would be passing out information on “Time of Use.”
The Lodi Pride Festival was organized and put on by an organization called “A New Lodi”:
“A New Lodi is a local non-profit organization, [sic] which focuses on improving the policies of local government, amplifying voices from the BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color), migrant, and LGBTQIA+ communities, building relationships and spreading awareness through community events, and breaking down walls; all working towards building bridges towards an inclusive community where everyone is accepted.”
This event was advertised as a “family friendly” pride festival, offering “story time, games, pop-up play family area.”
With children present, the Lodi Pride Festival featured a “drag hour,” giving the stage to demonically-dressed men pretending to be women.
During the “drag hour,” performers lip-synced routines in order to “celebrate marginalized communities” and “bridging voices of these communities with our local government.” This is a screen-captured still from one of the performances.
And another routine:
Fuerzas Unidas posted multiple pictures of their involvement at this event, including this one showing a rainbow flag on their table and children in the background.
This picture more clearly shows the rainbow and transgender flags on Fuerzas Unidas’ table, as well as a couple of young girls wearing rainbow dresses:
In this picture, Fuerzas Unidas Senior Organizer, Erica Fernancez Zamora poses with one of the men in women’s clothing.
In addition to participating in the Lodi Pride Festival, Zamora, reshared this pro-LGBT, pro-Abortion rant on Facebook:
Member of Pro-Abortion, Pro-LGBT organizations
The CCHD absolutely forbids organizations from membership in organizations acting against Catholic teaching. In an FAQ on the USCCB website, the CCHD directly answers the question about whether grantees may be members of coalitions that oppose Catholic teachings. In answer, the CCHD firmly stated, “CCHD will not fund groups that are knowingly members of coalitions that have as part of their organizational purpose or coalition agenda, positions or actions that contradict fundamental Catholic moral and social teaching.”
Given this, there is no way CCHD should have provided a grant to the Fuerzas Unidas due to its membership in the Gamaliel Foundation.
According to Fuerzas Unidas’s “Who We Are” page:
“Fuerzas Unidas is an affiliate of Gamaliel of California. Gamaliel of California is a statewide network of values-driven, regional organizations that transform communities and create systemic change through community organizing. We organize regional power organizations made up of institutional members connected through shared values, collective vision, disciplined organizing, and direct action to create a powerful platform for the new majority Californians to enter the public political arena and seek justice.”
The CCHD has had run-ins with the Gamaliel Foundation before, most notably when Gamaliel lied to the CCHD about its membership with another organization called the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM).
This screen capture showing Gamaliel’s membership in FIRM came from a document that was originally found on the Gamaliel website. Since the discovery of this document, Gamaliel has password protected the page so nobody can see the evidence.
This screen shot shows that Gamaliel wasn’t just a member of FIRM, but actually sat on its executive committee (meaning, it was a part of the leadership of FIRM).
Here’s the problem: as a member of FIRM’s executive committee, Gamaliel participated in FIRM’s decision to publicly endorse the legal recognition of same-sex couples.
In July of 2012, American Life League sent this and other documentation to the CCHD, showing that the Gamaliel Foundation is a member of the same-sex ‘marriage’ endorsing FIRM, in violation of CCHD grant guidelines. On August 8, ALL received a letter from one CCHD rep. who said that the CCHD discussed this with the Gamaliel Foundation, and Gamaliel informed the CCHD that they severed all ties with FIRM in 2010, specifically BECAUSE of the its position on homosexuality. In fact, Gamaliel went so far as to provide the CCHD with a copy of a letter it claims it sent to FIRM in 2010, explaining that it no longer wishes to be a member, along with the reasons why.
However, further investigation quickly proved Gamaliel’s claims to be false, showing that Gamaliel lied to the CCHD. The following information was extracted from Gamaliel’s OWN website. Bear in mind that Gamaliel told CCHD that they severed ties with FIRM in 2010, so there should be no further information connecting the two organizations beyond 2010.
This list of files under the heading “FIRM Strategy Session,” all dated for the year 2011, were found on Gamaliel’s website at this link (which is no longer accessible to the public): //news.gamaliel.org/documents/CRI/cri.html 
Each of these items listed was a link to a file. The first file on the list, labeled “FIRM Contact Life – Membership 2011” states that the list is effective December 2011, nearly two years after FIRM officially declared its support for the legal recognition of same-sex relationships. This file clearly shows Gamaliel’s Executive Director, Ana Garcia Ashley and Gamaliel’s Director of Civil Rights and Immigrants, Juan Soto, as member contacts for 2011.
This file, titled, “List of current FIRM member organizations plus brief descriptions 2011,” contains an entry for the Gamaliel Foundation (which is not supposed to be a member at this time, remember), indicating that Gamaliel is a founding member of FIRM and currently sits in EC, which means Executive Committee.
This is a screen capture of a google group entry for FIRM. This entry gives a set of meeting minutes from a monthly conference call that took place on December 9, 2011. Note that Ana Garcia-Ashley of the Gamaliel Foundation is listed as a participant on the call.
On the same page is a statement that 18 organizations were nominated for membership on the executive committee for 2012, and one of those organizations is the Gamaliel Foundation.
Simply put, there is no way around the fact that Gamaliel lied to the CCHD about its relationship with FIRM. The supposed 2010 letter Gamaliel claims to have sent to FIRM “severing all ties” is a complete fabrication. Gamaliel could not have severed all ties with FIRM while its own files on its own website indicate continued membership throughout the year 2011, and a group communication shows that Gamaliel was nominated for the executive committee for 2012. The Gamaliel Foundation lied to the CCHD.
But even today, Gamaliel is involved in activities forbidden by the CCHD. Currently, Gamaliel is a dues-paying member of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), who strongly supports pro-abortion policies and reforms, as seen in their “factsheet” published in January of 2021:
In March of 2021, NCRP leadership made it clear that access to abortion was a primary focus area of its work in an article titled, “It’s Time for Philanthropy to Think Differently about Reproductive Access.” In the article, NCRP equated abortion with “economic justice, racial justice, immigrant rights and health equity,” saying:
“Reproductive rights – and the availability of safe, legal and accessible abortions — are inexorably intertwined with economic justice, racial justice, immigrant rights and health equity. So is the expectation of safety – mental and physical.
Who gets to make which choices –– or gets a choice at all –– is a structural issue.
NCRP’s new focus on reproductive access and gendered violence in our Movement Investment Project continues our efforts in increasing philanthropic support for frontline groups combatting the structures that stand in the way of social justice.”
Most recently, NCRP called for the funding of abortion clinics in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, saying:
“The Supreme Court’s controversial, but predictable decision to disregard precedent and overturn the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade case is a disastrous validation of the danger of ignoring frontline voices.”
Conclusion
Fuerzas Unidas is in active violation of CCHD grant guidelines on direct actions against Catholic moral teaching, and in membership with an organization that is involved in similar activity.
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