An Outright International Survey found that US foreign-aid cuts have disproportionately harmed LGBTIQ organizations in countries where queer people face the most severe repression, discrimination, and violence. Specifically, Outright report notes that 203 of 229 organizations across 94 countries had lost funding following the Trump administration’s cuts in 2025, with nearly half losing at least 50% of their budgets. The consequences have included reduced or discontinued HIV treatment and prevention, mental-health services, shelters, harm-reduction programs, and emergency protection, with organizations in countries such as Uganda, Ghana, Nepal, Zimbabwe, and Kenya particularly affected. These cuts are particularly pernicious to queer and trans populations because it is often the case that such small, community-based organizations are providing services that mainstream health and social-service systems cannot or will not provide to LGBTIQ individuals.
Meanwhile, in Turkey, police have launched a nationwide crackdown on LGBTQ+ people and organizations, raiding LGBTQ+ groups and gay bars across major cities and detaining at least 60 people. The raids are part of a broader government campaign that promotes “family values” by scapegoating queer populations through fearmongering moralistic campaigns. Queer and trans people are increasingly at risk around the world, and the U.S. government is neglecting, if not exacerbating, this escalating crisis.
