This document summarizes efforts to promote inclusion and protect the rights of LGBT individuals globally. It discusses how LGBT people represent a small minority population worldwide, but addressing LGBT issues is important for inclusion, humanity, and development. The document outlines actions by organizations like the World Bank, USAID, UN agencies, and foreign governments to strengthen non-discrimination policies, increase funding for LGBT advocacy and health programs, provide anti-discrimination training, and address LGBT-related violence in over 50 countries. However, it notes that data and funding for international LGBT issues remains inadequate.

1. 2015 Commemoration of the
International Day against
Homophobia, Biphobia, and
Transphobia
Chloe Schwenke, Ph.D.
May 20, 2015
http://chloemaryland.net

2. World Bank Group Goals
END EXTREME POVERTY AND
PROMOTE SHARED PROSPERITY

3. LGBTI Global Goals
• Safety, and respect for basic dignity
• Freedom to be, freedom to love
• Sustainable livelihoods
• Access to public services and rule-of-law
• Inclusion
• Understanding

4. Balancing the “letters”
• LGBTI…Q…Q…A…????????????
• SO + GIE
o No common global language for the diversity of
sexual minorities
• Majority of global development funding &
programming focused on gay men and “men
who have sex with men” (MSM)
o HIV/AIDS

5. Minority
• Lesbian and gay people are a significant minority
o In the US, 1.8 percent of men self-identify as gay, and
1.5 percent of women self-identify as lesbian (NHIS/CDC data
2013)
• Transgender people are an even smaller minority
o Very few surveys ask, but informed estimates are 0.2 to 0.3
percent of the population
• Intersex people are rare
o Very hard to precisely define this category, but rough
estimates are about 1 in 1500 to 1 in 2000 births
• No one knows how many bisexual people there are, as
many bisexual people do not self-identify as such

6. And so….?
Utilitarian arguments would tend to dismiss
relevance of such a small minority
WEIGHED AGAINST
• Inclusion: World Bank’s focus on ending extreme
poverty and promoting shared prosperity…
• Humanity: The reality that SOGIE issues go to the
very human (if intangible) heart of development
o Love, relationship, association
o Identity and human dignity

7. Action Update ~ 1
• 2013: Pan-American Health Organization passed a resolution on LGBTI
health
– equal access to care is a health issue
– countries should collect data on access to health care and health facilities for
their LGBTI population.
• The U.S. Treasury Department encourages the MDBs to strengthen
attention to LGBTI issues
– human resources policies
– protect the human rights of LGBTI persons and advance social inclusion and
non-discrimination through MDBs’ projects
– ensure that LGBTI persons can access projects’ benefits without being exposed
to harm.
• Since 2011: US State Department’s Global Equality Fund
– partnership of 11 governments + corporations and private foundations
– allocated more than $19 million to frontline human rights/LGBTI advocates in
50 countries

8. Action Update ~ 2
• FY 2014: USAID invested approximately $3.3 million in stand-alone
LGBTI programs
– an additional $113 million in programs related to health and human
rights that were relevant to members of the LGBTI community
– LGBTI Global Development Partnership operates in 15 countries and
consists of 28 resource partners including multinational corporations,
foundations, NGOs and a university
• Williams Institute at UCLA report on the economic costs of discrimination: The
Relationship Between LGBTI Economic Inclusion and Economic Development:
An Analysis of Emerging Economies.
• PEPFAR and USAID launched a $7 million public-private partnership
project with the Elton John Foundation, called health4men
– strengthening community capacity
– expanding access to non-discriminatory HIV services for MSM and
transgender persons in South Africa

9. Action Update ~ 3
• July 2014: USAID announced Linkages Across the Continuum of HIV
Services for Key Populations Affected by HIV (LINKAGES)
– $73 million award over 5 years
– PEPFAR and USAID’s first global project dedicated to 15 key
populations
• includes gay men, MSM, and transgender persons
• US State Department and the Department of Justice provide
training on LGBTI issues to law enforcement officials and NGOs
– 2014: State Department sponsored counter hate crimes training for
law enforcement officials from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, and Mexico
– State Department supports a Violent Crimes Task Force in Honduras
that investigates and supports the prosecution of LGBTI-related
homicide cases

10. Total $ for LGBTI/SOGIE
• Very inadequate data
• Foundations: Despite significant gains in
recent years, for every 100 dollars awarded by
U.S. foundations only 24 cents goes to LGBTI
issues
o In 2013, over 80 % of such funding focused on U.S.
domestic LGBTI communities
o nearly half of all LGBTI funding is going to some
form of advocacy work

11. Questions and Comments?