Submission to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence for the “Union of Equality: 2026-2030 LGBTIQ Equality Strategy”

I. Introduction

The European Commission’s forthcoming 2026–2030 LGBTIQ Equality Strategy represents a crucial opportunity to reaffirm and expand the EU’s role as a global leader in human rights. While much of the Strategy will rightly focus on the situation within EU Member States, it is imperative that its external dimension be significantly bolstered at this juncture.

Across the globe, LGBTIQ movements are under sustained and coordinated attack from political leaders, anti-gender groups, and segments of the general public increasingly emboldened by this climate of hostility. Even more alarming is the retreat of historically reliable allies like the United States from global leadership on gender and sexuality, particularly through drastic shifts in foreign policy and cuts in foreign aid. The political and financial pullback poses an existential threat to LGBTIQ movements that have long depended on such support to survive and resist.

This submission highlights the grave impacts of the 2025 Trump executive orders cutting foreign aid to LGBTIQ organizations and outlines steps the EU should take to help fill the political and financial vacuum. Drawing on research conducted by Outright International and Human Rights Watch in the aftermath of the executive orders, this submission urges the Commission to build upon the important funding commitments that the European Commission made in the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy (2020–2025) and adopt a robust international aid pillar in its 2026-2030 Strategy. Without such financial and political support, gaps in funding and support are likely to widen, undermining the resilience and effectiveness of LGBTIQ movements globally.

II. Statements of Interest

Outright International is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization dedicated to promoting and protecting the rights of LGBTIQ people everywhere. With thirty-five years of experience, Outright works at the international, regional, and national levels to support community-based movements, influence policy, and advance inclusive and sustainable development for LGBTIQ populations.

Until January 2025, Outright was one of the organizations that worked with both the U.S. State Department and USAID to construct trusted networks that allowed funds to be disseminated to organizations that may lack the capacity to apply for and manage the large grants government agencies typically make available. In January 2025, Outright International, in its capacity as an intermediary, had to suspend 120 grants in 42 countries as a result of the aid freeze, affecting programs ranging from economic livelihoods to legal aid, healthcare, and mental health support. These grants, which ranged from USD $9,000 to $180,000, had reached organizations of all sizes—from nascent grassroots movements to seasoned national advocacy groups.

Human Rights Watch is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that investigates and reports on violations of fundamental human rights in over 100 countries worldwide with the goal of securing the respect of those rights for all persons. By exposing and calling attention to human rights abuses committed by both state and non-state actors, HRW seeks to bring international public opinion to bear upon offending governments and others to end abusive practices. HRW does not accept government funding, directly or indirectly.

HRW has had a dedicated LGBT Rights Program since 2004 which leads the organization’s work documenting and highlighting the violence and inequality that LGBT people around the world face based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. HRW’s LGBT Rights Program aims to integrate LGBT rights into the broader rubric of human rights. To that end, HRW advocates for laws and policies that will protect the dignity of all people by allowing LGBT individuals to enjoy their fundamental human rights.

III. U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts: A Global Crisis for the LGBTIQ Movement

Background

On January 20, 2025, the Trump administration issued Executive Order 14169 freezing nearly all foreign assistance programs and terminating key U.S. government support mechanisms for global LGBTIQ equality.[1] The stated goal of this was to assess their “programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy.”[2] On January 24, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued guidance that operationalized Trump’s directive as a stop-work order for nearly all existing grants and programs.[3] On March 10, Rubio announced that 83% of USAID programs had been terminated (roughly 5,200 of 6,200 programs) and that surviving initiatives would be absorbed by the State Department.[4]

Among the terminated programs were all or nearly all programs supporting the equality and inclusion of LGBTIQ people, a decision underscored by two additional executive orders issued by President Trump in January 2025 that pledged to cease funding of “gender ideology” and terminate all federal “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” programming.[5]

The foreign aid terminations abruptly forced the closure of organizations that had long relied on U.S. funds to provide health services, document human rights violations, support economic empowerment, and offer emergency shelter. Organizations also had to lay off staff, suspend crucial research and advocacy work, and turn away beneficiaries from services. In some cases, organizations became indebted due to financial commitments they made in expectation of future disbursements.

The foreign aid cuts by the Trump administration between January and June 2025 have had catastrophic effects on LGBTIQ civil society organizations and activists worldwide. Unlike activists in many other sectors, when international funding dries up or is nonexistent, many LGBTIQ activists cannot turn to their national governments or local communities for support due to discriminatory legislation, social stigma, and a growingly adverse political climate that targets their visibility and legitimacy. For instance, over 60 countries around the world criminalize consensual same-sex conduct, which represents a socio-legal obstacle to appealing to the state or the public for assistance. For over the last 15 years, U.S. foreign policy and aid had correctly recognized that LGBTIQ people are often left behind in government-led human rights, humanitarian, and development initiatives. While there are other key donor governments funding LGBTIQ initiatives abroad, the U.S. was a major actor and convenor in this space and its abrupt withdrawal is already having devastating impacts.[6]

A Rapid Assessment Based on a Global Survey

In February 2025, Outright published Defunding Freedom: Impacts of U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts on LGBTIQ People Worldwide, a rapid assessment of how LGBTIQ organizations in every region of the world have been impacted by the US foreign assistance freeze.[7] The report draws on Outright’s global survey of organizations that received U.S. funding for LGBTIQ work, including those for which it served as an intermediary. It assessed programmatic, organizational, and community-level impacts of funding cuts. Available in five languages, the survey was widely distributed through direct outreach, listservs, messaging apps, social media, and Outright’s website.

The 125 initial respondents to Outright’s survey represent organizations in 59 countries, as well as several regional projects. Among them:

• 72 respondents in 35 countries said their organizations have had to lay off staff and/or stop programs.
• 55 respondents in 28 countries and three regions reported their work responding to violence against LGBTIQ people was compromised.
• 38 respondents in 16 countries and one region said livelihoods and income-generation work were disrupted, affecting thousands of LGBTIQ people.
• 37 respondents in 22 countries reported impacts on mental health and psychosocial support services; 30 in 14 countries saw medical initiatives, including HIV programs, curtailed.
• 30 respondents in 17 countries and three regions said their legal aid work was affected.
• 20 respondents in at least eight countries said they may be unable to continue humanitarian assistance for LGBTIQ people in crisis settings.
• 17 respondents in 12 countries and three regions relied on U.S. funding to document human rights violations, work that will be challenging to continue.
• 13 respondents in nine countries and one region used U.S. funds for emergency shelter; some shelters have already closed.[8]

Case Studies in Crisis: Aid Cuts Are Reshaping LGBTIQ Realities

This section offers a small but telling snapshot of the widespread impact that the 2025 U.S. executive orders on foreign aid have had on LGBTIQ organizations and the communities they serve. Drawn from a global survey conducted by Outright International and interviews by Human Rights Watch, these examples illustrate how sudden funding cuts are creating a far broader crisis affecting thousands of LGBTIQ people whose rights, safety, and basic needs now hang in the balance.

In Cameroon, a community-based organization lost 80% of its funding (approximately 238,000 USD), leading to the closure of its shelter for displaced and at-risk LGBTIQ people and the termination of its HIV services.[9] Another organization in the same country that supported over 1,000 people with antiretrovirals and another 1,000 with PrEP had to cease operations entirely due to their losing 40% of their funding, amounting to around 300,000 USD.[10] They also had to lay off 25 staff members, close regional branches, and cease monitoring human rights violations. The head of one of these organizations highlighted the long-term implications of the cuts:

Some USAID funding had certain clauses requiring the government to develop collaborations or partnerships with civil society and community-based organizations which work with LGBTI people. Such a suspension inevitably has repercussions from that [institutional acceptance] perspective […] There’s also a loss of expertise. Some experts working with key and vulnerable populations, particularly LGBTI people, may retrain or move on to other projects. It may then be difficult to solicit their future interventions.[11]

An organization in Southern Africa that conducts HIV education for key populations and runs stigma reduction programs said it had made gains in a context where same-sex conduct is criminalized.[12] Yet, it noted that the U.S. funding cuts represented a challenge to future work:

We managed to bring different stakeholders and government ministries, including the presidential office, to understand [sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics] … [but] we were forced to close and stop operations […] to lay off 24 staff members; in addition, most of the nurses the organization had trained, who were working at HIV clinics funded by USAID, had also lost their jobs.[13]

Another organization in Southern Africa lost access to some 200,000 USD used to support

policy advocacy, sexual and reproductive health services, and addressing the HIV epidemic. According to the organization, among beneficiaries of their programs who are not LGBTIQ, there is an ongoing perception that the withdrawal of funding is the staff’s fault for associating with LGBTIQ associations, further fueling stigma. The organization had to close its office and fears that members of key populations will cease accessing medical treatment, with dire impacts on their health.[14]

In Ukraine, an organization that works with internally displaced people received U.S. funding that allowed it to provide career consultations, professional courses, and psychological support for LGBTIQ people who had lost their jobs due to the Russia’s full-scale invasion. This helped them re-establish their lives in a new part of the country. As a result of the freeze, staff will lose their jobs and the organization will have to shut down these services, depriving displaced Ukrainians of new job opportunities.[15]

In Myanmar, U.S. funding allowed an organization to provide legal aid services for LGBTIQ

individuals who were arbitrarily arrested and tortured as well as legal aid, psychosocial

support and emergency assistance for LGBTIQ individuals facing threats and displacement. The organization also documented human rights violations. The representative noted that without funding they “are unable to provide emergency assistance to those facing immediate threats, forcing many to navigate dangerous situations alone.”[16]

In Bulgaria, a $120,000 grant was frozen and then terminated for an organization working on political advocacy, pro bono legal services, and strategic litigation. The organization had made key advances, including a change in the penal code to include an aggravating circumstance if a victim was targeted based on their sexual orientation. It also trained over 500 investigative police officers on LGBTIQ rights and provided legal support for victims of anti-LGBTIQ violence. This work is at risk due to the loss of funding.[17]

In Malaysia, a human rights research, advocacy, and strategic litigation group lost half its budget (amounting to 30,000 USD) and was forced to end a project to stop state-sponsored conversion practices, which had advance significantly through workshops with health practitioners, political advocacy, and media work. Its support for LGBTIQ refugees, including food and mentorship programs, was also halted.[18] The head of the organization noted:

“The Southeast Asia region is underfunded with respect to LGBTIQ rights. I can count with one hand the number of groups with stable funding. Groups in Malaysia are at a nascent state and now with this impact on our limited resources means we will shrink more […] It also emboldens anti-gender groups. When the first order [on “gender ideology”] came out, headlines [in news publications] read “Destroy LGBT.”[19]

In Ecuador, an LGBTIQ rights organizations lost funding for a project promoting the rights of diverse families, amounting to some 15,000 USD. The cut affected the operation of the programs, the continuity of contracts for key personnel, and the maintenance of community spaces. It has also directly affected the beneficiaries of services, who depend on these programs for their well-being.[20]

In Guatemala, a collective for trans men in the country had a 2 million USD grant frozen and then terminated that was meant to support a healthcare and gender development initiative. The program had aimed to provide free diagnostic, psychological, and lab services, as well as advocacy initiatives. Eleven staff were let go, and crucial services such as shelter support, scholarships, and entrepreneurship were discontinued.[21]

In Malawi, where same-sex intimacy is criminalized, an organization lost funding to run

a safe house to provide temporary shelter to homeless lesbian, bisexual, trans, and intersex

women who were facing evictions by parents and landlords or “high levels of violence or are at risk in their communities.”[22] The organization said that it has forced to turn people out onto the streets:

We were forced to close one of our safe houses, keeping 15 LBTI people at risk. This decision means that individuals who relied on this safe space have to leave, even though many of them are not yet secure or found a secure space in other environments. This decision puts these individuals at further risk and undermines the immediate protection we strive to provide for our beneficiaries.[23]

In Lebanon, an organization’s funding was frozen and terminated, amounting to 25,000 USD, which was for a projected project aimed to be a repository of information for individuals in Arabic around gender and sexuality—a key resource for a region with limited resources on gender and sexuality. The project not only collected publications, podcasts, and audio-visual material, but also a large question and answer section of over 500 questions on issues such as sexual health, politics, history, and family, asked and answered in accessible language.[24]

In an Asian country that criminalizes both same-sex intimacy and transgender identities, an

LGBTIQ organization that provides legal aid has had its core and operational funding frozen.[25]

The organization said:

Our inability to monitor, document, and report human rights violations could lead to reduced visibility and diminished accountability for state actors and institutions responsible for abuses. This lack of oversight may embolden perpetrators, increasing the frequency and severity of violence against LGBTQI+ individuals.[26]

In Mexico, a long-standing LGBTIQ organization that maintained one of the country’s most reliable databases on hate crimes lost $50,000 in annual funding. This loss effectively ended the project, including staff layoffs and the closure of their website. Another Mexican NGO, focused on economic reintegration of LGBTIQ individuals after incarceration, lost $45,000 in funding and ceased operations.[27]

An organization in East Asia lost funding supporting its independent media platform that provides positive coverage of LGBTIQ people and issues in East Asia. The organization “engages in media advocacy by producing news reports, feature articles, and an LGBTIQ issues database to enhance visibility and influence,” along with commentaries on social justice issues from an LGBTIQ perspective.[28] The organization explained what its closure and that of its peers would mean:

[It] would be a significant blow to local activism, leaving young activists with fewer opportunities for growth and experience… Many LGBTQI organizations, especially those that are non-project-based, non-service-based, or not directly related to LGBTQI survival, will close down. Activism will also become less diverse and creative than it has been in the past.[29]

A Russian diaspora-based organization that monitors and researches human rights violations and provides legal aid to those persecuted or facing risks has stated that it is catastrophic to be left without this support:

The team is now under extreme stress as no one knows what’s going to happen to them and their programs’ beneficiaries. Also, we can see that the whole sector is in great stress, which makes it a bit more challenging to continue partnerships and implement joint activities… We are truly concerned that there will be dramatically negative trends in LGBTIQ people's human rights defense and gender equality in Russia (and worldwide), as a major part of activities aimed at those two directions have been frozen and may be even canceled for an undetermined period of time.[30]

Taken together, these accounts offer an alarming portrait of a sector in crisis. Beyond the immediate losses—jobs, shelters, health services, advocacy initiatives—what emerges is a deeper sense of fragility. The statements speak to a collective exhaustion among frontline actors, the shrinking of civic space, and a growing fear that the current wave of regressions is not temporary. They also highlight a dangerous shift: in many contexts, LGBTIQ rights are no longer just politically unpopular—they are being actively targeted. These stories call for urgent attention—not only to restore funding, but to reaffirm a global commitment to those defending equality and dignity under the most difficult conditions.

IV. Why the European Union Should Act

The European Union is uniquely placed to respond to the global crisis facing LGBTIQ civil society. With its longstanding commitment to fundamental rights and multilateralism, the EU has the legal basis and political leverage to help stabilize the global LGBTIQ movement. This is not only a question of upholding the principles enshrined in the Treaty on European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, but also a matter of advancing the EU’s own strategic interests.

The EU’s credibility as a global leader in human rights depends on its consistency and visible support for marginalized communities. A strong and vibrant network of LGBTIQ organizations abroad serves as a bulwark against authoritarianism, fosters more inclusive and resilient democracies, and contributes to a more stable international environment.[31]

Moreover, domestic and international equality agendas are increasingly intertwined. Migration flows bring the realities of LGBTIQ individuals from other regions into the EU, while digital platforms allow activists—and anti-rights actors alike—to operate across borders, amplifying both solidarity and hate campaigns transnationally. At the same time, international human rights mechanisms serve as shared tools for advancing LGBTIQ rights globally. These dynamics mean that the challenges and progress of LGBTIQ communities within the EU are deeply connected to those abroad. Failing to support global LGBTIQ struggles would not only undermine universal human rights principles but also weaken the EU’s own efforts to build inclusive, democratic societies at home—at a time when cross-border solidarity and cooperation are more essential than ever.

In this context, the EU’s role as a donor is critical. The EU already contributes to human rights and development programming worldwide, but its LGBTIQ-specific aid could be stronger. The 2026–2030 LGBTIQ Equality Strategy offers an opportunity to make strategic, long-term investments in global LGBTIQ movements through targeted financial support, capacity-building, and diplomatic engagement.

Beyond financial support, the EU’s leadership holds strategic and symbolic value in the current global context. As anti-rights movements grow bolder and multilateral human rights norms face erosion, a firm and visible European commitment to LGBTIQ equality sends a vital message: that fundamental rights remain non-negotiable. This kind of principled leadership reinforces the EU’s identity as a credible global actor, while offering essential political backing to LGBTIQ movements that are increasingly isolated. In a moment when global silence is easily weaponized, active engagement from the EU can serve as a stabilizing force and a source of hope for those defending dignity and inclusiveness under siege.

Importantly, the EU has already laid the groundwork in the LGBTIQ Equality Strategy (2020–2025), which made notable progress in embedding the external dimension of LGBTIQ rights.[32] Moreover, in the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, the EU and member states commit to combating all forms of discrimination abroad, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.[33] This language marks a vital shift toward meaningful international engagement. But in today’s climate—especially following the collapse of U.S. leadership in global LGBTIQ aid—it is not enough. This external pillar of the Strategy should be not only retained but scaled up to meet the urgency of the current moment.

V. Conclusion & Recommendations

The next EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy must do more than speak to domestic needs. It should also step forward to meet a global emergency. The collapse of U.S. foreign assistance has left a gaping void in the international support ecosystem for LGBTIQ rights. The increased political and legislative attacks on LGBTIQ equality across multiple regions, including Europe, Africa, and the Americas, risk creating a class of “acceptable” victims of intolerance, exclusion, and even violence.[34]The next Strategy should leverage existing EU foreign policy instruments to integrate LGBTIQ rights more systematically across external action. Dedicated funding lines and political commitments under these frameworks can enhance implementation. Without urgent action, the progress of the last two decades may be lost, including within the European Union.

Building on the solid foundation laid by the 2020–2025 LGBTIQ Equality Strategy, the forthcoming Strategy should:

• Establish commitments to support frontline LGBTIQ organizations, enable regional alliances, and ensure that inclusive humanitarian aid and development assistance be not only preserved but elevated.
• Include dedicated, scalable, and responsive foreign aid instruments to meet the evolving needs of LGBTIQ communities worldwide, including core support, rapid response grants, and long-term capacity-building.
• Address the needs and capacities of LGBTIQ organizations operating in criminalized, conflict-affected, or high-stigma environments, where fundraising is nearly impossible and security risks are high, through financial support and statements of support.
• Protect and expand digital civic space for LGBTIQ organizations and activists, including support for secure communications, online visibility, and protection against censorship and cyberattacks.
• Further efforts to mainstream LGBTIQ concerns into EU development programming, including in the Multiannual Financial Framework, in areas such as health, economic inclusion, education, and democratic governance.
• Deepen engagement with platforms such as the Equal Rights Coalition and the UN LGBTI Core Group to ensure alignment, share intelligence, and coordinate emergency responses.
• Invest in data gathering on LGBTIQ communities and the impacts of aid, helping to inform evidence-based policies and challenge disinformation.
• Appoint LGBTIQ focal points within EU Delegations and relevant EU institutions to coordinate local engagement, monitor risks, and ensure the consistent inclusion of LGBTIQ rights in bilateral relations and programming.
• Ensure flexible funding mechanisms that recognize the diversity of LGBTIQ organizations, including unregistered, informal, and community-led groups working under restrictive conditions.
• Ensure and champion dedicated lines of support to organizations protecting and promoting the rights of transgender people.
• Ensure that all EU development policies and programs recognize gender diversity, eschewing efforts by some governments, including in Europe, to enforce a rigid, binary understanding of gender.
• Uphold the rights of LGBTIQ people in all agreements and partnerships with third countries, including bilateral agreements, trade, visa and other deals, and in international fora.

The EU has the tools, values, and responsibility to act. By anchoring international solidarity and aid as core components of the 2026–2030 strategy, the European Commission can ensure that the Union of Equality extends far beyond its borders.