Discover Funding Opportunities

The Wayne F. Placek Grant encourages research to increase the general public's understanding of homosexuality and sexual orientation, and to alleviate the stress that LGBTQIA+ individuals experience in this and future civilizations. Since 1995, the Placek Fund has granted more than $1 million. The grant addresses topics including heterosexuals' attitudes and behaviors toward LGBTQIA+ people (including prejudice, discrimination, and violence), family and workplace issues relevant to LGBTQIA+ people, special concerns of historically underrepresented sectors of the LGBTQIA+ population, and issues concerning Black LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities. APF awards two grants annually, with one specifically designated as the Wayne F. Placek Grant in Memorial of John Peterson, focused on psychological research into issues concerning Black LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities conducted by scholars of color. Wayne F. Placek was a research subject of psychologist Evelyn Hooker whose groundbreaking 1950s research led to the removal of homosexuality as a clinical diagnosis.

The Roy Scrivner Memorial Research Grant seeks to encourage the study of LGBTQIA+ family psychology and therapy through its support of promising graduate investigators whose research is oriented toward issues in this general area. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQIA+) people face many challenges in forming, defining, and maintaining families. Preference is given to advanced students who have demonstrated their commitment to this area through their dissertation research plans. The program aims to encourage talented students to orient their careers toward engaging LGBTQIA+ family issues through basic and/or applied research, advance the understanding of problems faced by LGBTQIA+ families including those associated with cultural, racial, socioeconomic, and family structure diversity, advance the understanding of successful coping mechanisms including sources of support and resilience for family members, and advance the understanding of clinical issues and interventions in the domain of LGBTQIA+. Roy Scrivner was a psychologist well-known for his passion and advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community. Scrivner founded APA's Division of Family Psychology's Committee on Lesbian and Gay Family Issues and received numerous awards for his contributions to LGBTQIA+ psychology. Scrivner became president of the Texas Psychological Association in 1992, becoming the first openly gay president of a state psychological association in the United States. During his time at the Texas Psychological Association, Scrivner was an instrumental figure in repealing Texas's law that prohibited same-sex sexual relations.