The Trump-Vance administration’s decision to freeze nearly all U.S. foreign aid has had a devastating impact on LGBTQ communities in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
The suspension of aid has slashed critical USAID-funded projects; jeopardizing healthcare, jobs, and services for LGBTQ communities that often rely on such funds to bridge gaps their own governments overlook.
USAID for years championed LGBTQ communities around the world through initiatives like the LGBTI Global Development Partnership, which has awarded more than 100 grants to civil society organizations and trained more than 1,700 LGBTQ entrepreneurs and business owners.
USAID in 2022 launched the Alliance for Global Equality, a five-year collaboration that Outright International and the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute led. This initiative by March 2024 had awarded 39 grants in 16 countries, totaling nearly $800,000, to advance LGBTQ human rights and inclusion.
In Nepal, USAID has supported efforts that include the Rights for Gender Diverse Populations program, partnering with local groups to raise awareness of LGBTQ rights and improve access to healthcare and legal services for marginalized communities.
India’s MIST LGBTQ Foundation, based in Pune in Maharashtra state, is reeling from the funding freeze and is scrambling for alternative resources to sustain its mission.
MIST has been a lifeline for the LGBTQ community, driving HIV prevention, distributing PrEP, and spearheading empowerment programs, while partnering with doctors and mental health experts. Reports show the group delivered over 200 PrEP kits and conducted 300 HIV tests each month, a vital effort now at risk as the funding drought threatens to stall its work.
MIST has been a vital bridge for India’s LGBTQ community, reaching those who might otherwise go unserved because they are often wary of approaching NGOs or government-run testing centers due to stigma or distrust.
“Along with USAID, we have managed to ensure test kits reach the homes of those who want to test at home,” said Shyam Konnur, MIST’s founder and CEO, during an interview with Indian Express, a prominent English newspaper in India. “Distribution of PrEP and condoms were also part of the initiative, MIST bore the cost of parcelling and shipping the kits.”
The Indian Express reported MIST is now approaching corporate leaders and individual donors to help fill the funding gap.
The U.S. Embassy in India last June in New Delhi launched an open competition for Empowering LGBTQI+ Community Leadership, a program designed to promote equal access and hone leadership skills for India’s LGBTQ community. Aimed at training at least 200 leaders — prioritizing transgender and intersex people — the 12-month effort offered a grant between $120,000 and $150,000.
The program’s future is now in doubt.
The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and USAID in January 2021 supported Program ACCELERATE, led by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, to establish Mitr Clinic, India’s first comprehensive health center for the trans community in Hyderabad in Telangana state.
U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Feb. 9 criticized PEPFAR using American tax dollars to fund such trans clinics. The Louisiana Republican’s X post specifically noted Mitr.
Mitr did not respond to the Washington Blade’s repeated requests for comment.
South First, an Indian news outlet, later reported the clinic closed because of the USAID funding disruptions. Telangana’s state-run Maithri Clinic, which has served similar populations since 2018, will reportedly not receive state funding.
Span, a magazine that the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi has published since 1960 in order to foster ties between the U.S. and India, one highlighted the Mitr clinic. The U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai last August celebrated the clinic’s achievements with an Instagram post. The Span report on the clinic has been removed from its website.
The Blade reached out to the Humsafar Trust, a Mumbai-based advocacy group, for comment, but it declined.
Known for its work in HIV prevention and care, the Humsafar Trust has collaborated with USAID on efforts targeting men who have sex with men and trans people. It has also spearheaded more than 25 national and international research studies — some backed by USAID — to shape policies and programs for India’s LGBTQ community.
The Democratic Processes Project, which USAID launched in Nepal on May 27, 2024, sought to bolster inclusiveness and responsiveness of the country’s democratic systems and make them more resilient. With a sharp focus on empowering marginalized groups—including the LGBTQ community—the initiative aimed to amplify their role in governance and decision-making, while strengthening civic engagement and institutional capacity to serve all citizens equitably.
A report in the Diplomat warns that President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order that says the U.S. federal government will only recognize two genders — male and female — has left Nepal’s LGBTQ community on edge. The directive, which also halts federal funding for trans-related programs, threatens the more than a dozen LGBTQ groups that work in Nepal and could cost more than 300 community members their jobs.
“While this will impact U.S.-funded organizations, projects and jobs, said Sunil Babu Pant, LGBTQ rights activist and Asia’s first openly gay parliamentarian, in an interview with the Diplomat. “It will not impact the entire LGBTQI community as condoms are affordable, antiretroviral therapy for HIV and sexual health programs are already included in the government budget.”
The Blade contacted the Blue Diamond Society, a leading LGBTQ rights group in Nepal that Babu founded and a longtime USAID beneficiary, for comment on the funding freeze. The organization did not immediately respond.
Meanwhile, the Nepali Times reports that nearly $700 million in USAID grants, slated to support Nepal through 2027, are now in doubt.
In Bangladesh, USAID has been a key force in advancing LGBTQ initiatives.
The country’s parliament recognized “hijras” as a third gender in 2014, and USAID in 2021 worked with local organizations to ensure their inclusion in the national Census.
Through its Rights for Gender Diverse Populations program, USAID sought to strengthen civil society, training human rights activists to document and address violations while helping LGBTQ people navigate their rights. USAID also joined forces with 15 local radio stations to broadcast gender diversity awareness nationwide.
USAID in May 2023 partnered with the Bandhu Social Welfare Society and Sompriti Samaj, a Bangladeshi NGO focused on community empowerment, to launch the SHOMOTA (Equality) Project — a 5-year effort to uplift Bangladesh’s gender-diverse populations.
The initiative sought to boost the socio-economic and cultural standing of trans and hijra communities in eight cities: Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Barishal. It planned to directly support 8,700 people and provide vital resources and outreach to 4,750 more, including organizations, through 2028.
More than 100 development projects launched in Bangladesh with USAID backing ground to a halt after Trump issued his executive order, putting the jobs of roughly 50,000 NGO employees at risk.
In Pakistan, the USAID funding freeze dealt a sharp blow to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, hitting trans people and men who have sex with men especially hard. Once sustained by USAID support, these initiatives provided critical medications and care, but their sudden suspension has left many without access to life-saving antiretrovirals and support services. Local organizations championing LGBTQ rights and inclusion, reliant on those funds, have been forced to scale back or close down.
Washington Blade courtesy of the National LGBTQ Media Association.
