Efforts to advance lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)1 equality around the globe have expanded rapidly in the past five years. Several major human rights organizations have established LGBT programs or incorporated LGBT concerns into their existing agendas, while other advocates have created standalone LGBT-specific organizations. These new organizations and programs join the already-existing groups and programs that have fought for LGBT rights internationally since the late 1970s. This report presents an analysis of survey and/or interview data from 25 of these organizations and programs. The report’s aim is to provide global LGBT rights advocates and their funders – current and prospective – with baseline information about leading players in the global LGBT rights movement.
The organizations and programs in the global LGBT rights movement that we analyzed use a wide range of strategies and tactics to advance their goals and objectives. For example, some are engaged in litigation strategies, as they try to repeal sodomy laws in specific countries. Others are building better relationships with former opponent governments, which they are meeting and getting to know at regional conferences or convenings. Many try to pressure the United Nations and its member states to consider LGBT rights as a fundamental component of broader human rights – and to extend human rights laws and protections that are already in place to include sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. Others are trying to educate the general public about LGBT needs and experiences, sometimes grounding this work within a particular country’s or region’s traditions and culture. In short, these groups are all committed to advancing or protecting LGBT rights, but they approach their work in diverse ways.
Although this field has grown in recent years, it is still very small. Most major organizations and programs have annual budgets well under $1 million, although they have grown somewhat in the past two years. Like most small or new nonprofit organizations, these groups and programs face considerable operational and programmatic challenges. The fact that they are attempting to influence decisions at the international, regional, national, and local levels of government – and in countries where strong political, cultural, legal, and social forces oppose LGBT rights – makes their limited budgets seem even smaller and their needs even greater. To paraphrase one of the individuals we interviewed, even if the field’s resources increased by 5,000 percent, budgets might still be tight.
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