Tim Gill (born October 18, 1953) is an American computer software programmer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and

LGBTQ rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

activist. He was among the first openly gay people to be on the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is pub ...

list of America's richest people. He is the founder and co-chair of the

Gill Foundation The Gill Foundation is an American philanthropic foundation based in Denver, Colorado. It is one of the largest funders of efforts to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the United States. The founda ...

, a private Denver-based philanthropic organization supporting efforts to secure nationwide civil rights for

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

Americans. As of 2019, he was the single largest individual donor to the

movement in U.S. history, having personally committed more than $500 million since the early 1990s. Gill is also the founder of the pioneering page layout software company

Quark, Inc. Quark Software Inc. (founded 1981 in Denver, Colorado, USA) is a privately owned software company which specializes in enterprise publishing software for automating the production of customer communications. The company's original goal was to "c ...

Gill sold his fifty percent stake in the company in 1999 for a reported $500 million. Following the sale of his stake in

, Gill set aside sixty percent of his assets – more than $300 million – to fight for

. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Josh.ai.

Early life and education

Tim Gill was born in

Hobart, Indiana Hobart is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,890 at the 2020 census, up from 29,059 in 2010. It has been historically primarily residential, though recent annexation has added a notable retail corridor to the city ...

, and moved to Colorado with his family when he was in third grade. He attended

Wheat Ridge High School Wheat Ridge High School is a public secondary school operated by the Jefferson County School District R-1 in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, United States. Extracurricular activities Athletics State championship titles: *Baseball: 1992 (5A) *Boys' ice h ...

Jefferson County, Colorado Jefferson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 582,910, making it the fourth-most populous county in Colorado. The county seat is Golden, and the most populous city is Lakewood. ...

, eventually studying computer science and applied mathematics at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

Philanthropy and political action

Gill is the founder of the

, Gill Action Fund, and OutGiving. Gill first became involved in LGBTQ activism as a freshman at the

. He volunteered for the campus gay-liberation group and later supported local

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

awareness. In 1992, he continued his involvement in LGBTQ political action in response to the passage of Colorado Amendment 2, which prevented non-discrimination ordinances in the state from protecting people based on

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

and which the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

struck down as unconstitutional in its 1996 ruling in ''

Romer v. Evans ''Romer v. Evans'', 517 U.S. 620 (1996), is a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with sexual orientation and state laws.. It was the first Supreme Court case to address gay rights since ''Bowers v. Hardwick'' (1986),. when the C ...

''. He is widely credited as a visionary strategist and mega-donor who has made significant contributions to virtually every major

victory in the United States, from the 2003 ''

Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health ''Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health'', 798 N.E.2d 941 (Mass. 2003), is a landmark Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case in which the Court held that the Massachusetts Constitution requires the state to legally recognize same-sex marriage ...

'' decision making

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

the first U.S. state to allow same-sex marriage, to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 '' Obergefell v. Hodges'' decision legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the country. Gill, along with

Pat Stryker Patricia A. Stryker (born 1956/1957) is an American billionaire businessperson, philanthropist, and political activist. Stryker is the granddaughter of Homer Stryker, founder of Stryker Corporation, a medical technology company. Since the early ...

Jared Polis Jared Schutz Polis (; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician, entrepreneur, businessman, and philanthropist, serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since January 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 20 ...

and

Rutt Bridges Rutt Bridges is an American geophysicist and politician from Colorado and a member of the Democratic Party. Business success Bridges began his career with Chevron Corporation, then founded Advance Geophysical in 1980. He achieved success with ...

—called by the press the "Gang of Four"—together donated significant funds in support of Democratic organizations in Colorado, which many believe helped to flip control of the state legislature to Democratic control in 2004. In July 2017, Gill was the subject of a profile by journalist Andy Kroll for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine titled "The Quiet Crusader: How Tim Gill turned a $500 million fortune into the nation's most powerful force for LGBTQ rights."

Gill Foundation

Tim Gill founded the

in 1994, and co-chairs it with his husband Scott Miller. The national,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based non-profit organization underwrites academic research, polling, litigation, data analytics, and field organizing related to the LGBTQ rights movement. The foundation's initial focus was to build LGBTQ public acceptance through support of mainstream projects in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. The foundation established the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado in 1996, which provides financial support to a variety of non-profit organizations in the state. In addition to LGBTQ equality, the foundation focuses on providing STEM education to every Colorado student, curbing predatory lending and increasing financial literacy, and supporting public media.

Gill Action Fund

In 2005, Tim Gill established the Gill Action Fund, which is separate from the charitable endeavors of the foundation. The political fund has helped to elect hundreds of pro-equality lawmakers across the country at the local, state, and federal levels. In 2006, its first election year, the fund helped defeat 50 of the 70 anti-LGBTQ candidates it targeted. The fund also contributed to the successful 2016 election campaign of North Carolina Gov.

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III (born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician, serving as the 75th governor of North Carolina since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th attorney general of North Carolina from 20 ...

, who defeated the incumbent Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. Gill prioritized unseating McCrory after he championed and passed the anti-LGBTQ

HB2 The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as House Bill 2 or HB2, was a North Carolina statute passed in March 2016 and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. The bill amended state law to preempt any anti-discrimination o ...

"bathroom bill," which forced

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

people to use public restrooms corresponding with their sex at birth rather than their

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

OutGiving

In 1996, Gill founded OutGiving, a private, invitation-only philanthropic conference, to bring major pro-LGBTQ philanthropists together. OutGiving holds a conference every two years to discuss philanthropic strategies.

Freedom for All Americans

Since the U.S. Supreme Court's legalization of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

in 2015, Gill has shifted his focus to securing non-discrimination protections in the 28 states where it is still legal to discriminate against LGBTQ people in housing, employment and public accommodations. Gill is credited with developing a bipartisan strategy for securing non-discrimination protections in traditionally Republican states. In 2015, Gill, Paul Singer and Daniel Loeb, helped fund Freedom for All Americans to advocate for non-discrimination protections on the basis of

and gender identity in states and local communities across the country. Freedom for All Americans has successfully enlisted the support of businesses and corporations to work with Republican-held state legislatures to reject or overturn anti-LGBTQ legislation. The organization borrows the state-focused model of Freedom to Marry, the grassroots organizations that directed the fight for

equality from state to state leading up to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 '' Obergefell v. Hodges'' decision.

University of Colorado endowment

In 1998, Gill endowed the Tim Gill Professorship in Infectious Diseases at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

's medical school to support HIV research and education.

Others

In 2016, Tim Gill directed funding from the foundation to support a comprehensive theme study by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

to identify historically significant places related to LGBTQ history for potential inclusion in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

or designation as a National Monument.

Business ventures

Quark, Inc.

After jobs at Hewlett-Packard and a consulting services firm, Gill started the company

in 1981 with a $2,000 loan from his parents. Quark produced page layout software for the graphics market. With the introduction of Fred Ebrahimi as CEO in 1986, and the launch of the company's flagship page layout software,

QuarkXPress QuarkXPress is a desktop publishing software for creating and editing complex page layouts in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. It runs on macOS and Windows. It was first released by Quark, Inc. in 1987 and is still owned and ...

, in 1987, Gill became a multi-millionaire. Gill sold his fifty percent interest in Quark in 1999 for a reported $500 million, citing his growing involvement in philanthropic and activist endeavors.

Connexion.org

In 2003, Gill created Connexion.org, a social media platform for engaging the LGBTQ community in political activities. Connexion closed in September 2011.

JStar LLC

In March 2015, Gill co-founded the smart home technology start-up JStar LLC. He is the Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of the company. JStar's flagship product is Josh.ai, a voice-controlled home automation system using JStar's own artificial intelligence technology platform. The company is headquartered in

with offices in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. In July 2017, JStar announced an additional $8 million in private investment to create original hardware to compete with Google Home,

Amazon Echo Amazon Echo, often shortened to Echo, is an American brand of smart speakers developed by Amazon. Echo devices connect to the voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service '' Alexa'', which will respond when a user says "Alexa". Users ...

, and other devices with intelligent assistants inside. Josh.ai can be used through Amazon Alexa-enabled devices, Google Home, and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

and Android apps.

Personal life

Gill married his husband, Scott Miller, in Massachusetts in 2009. They live in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

with their dog. In 2022, Gill's husband Scott Miller became the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Gill is an avid snowboarder.

Awards and honors

In 1996, Gill received the University of Colorado Distinguished Service Award for his work supporting HIV/AIDS research. Macworld awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. Gill was awarded the NOGLSTP GLBT Engineer of the Year Award in 2007. In September 2007, People for the American Way awarded Gill its Spirit of Liberty Award. Gill received Liberty Hill Foundation's

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in sever ...

award in 2011. Colorado Governor

awarded Gill the Colorado 2019 Vanguard Legacy Governor's citizenship Medal. In August 2020, he was honored with Family Equality’s Murray/Reese Family Award.

References

External links

Gill FoundationGill Action FundOutGivingGay & Lesbian Fund for ColoradoFreedom for All AmericansJosh.ai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Tim 1953 births American computer businesspeople Computer scientists LGBT businesspeople from the United States LGBT people from Colorado LGBT people from Indiana LGBT rights activists from the United States LGBT scientists from the United States Living people People from Hobart, Indiana University of Colorado Boulder alumni