Memory through a queer lens

There is a global LGBTIQ+ movement Systematically damagederodes legal protections and expands political harassment, as well as by the sudden withdrawal of important funds. What started as a surge in the US Policy changes under Donald Trump It has become a global flood of cuts, bans, and deliberative dehumanization. This week in Nairobi, prominent ultra-conservative campaigners from around the world who oppose abortion, transgender, LGBTIQ+ rights and sexuality education speak at the African Pan-Africa Conference on Family Values.

Grassroots organizationthe backbone of strange survival and resistance around the world, struggling to float. Global funding has already begun It directly affects frontline organizationsForce them to shrink, shut down the program, or close it completely.

In South Africa, support groups cut services as US aid suddenly disappeared. in Marithe new law will completely criminalize LGBTIQ+ identity. These regressions are not organic and are designed as American evangelicals continue to export anti-LGBTIQ+ ideology across Africa.

In Europe, trans rights are rewinded under the guise of biological essentialism, and have recently been verified by a British Supreme Court ruling to exclude trans women from the legal definition of “women.” LGBTIQ+ events are constitutionally prohibited in Hungary.

In the US, Trump is again weaponizing his platform Prohibiting care that affirms the gender of minors Reduce LGBTIQ+ research fundingeverything is under the banner of “Protecting Children.” Elon Muskonce a corporate ally of LGBTIQ+ rights, now reflecting the voices of the far right, he has launched a transphobic Tillard alongside a personal attack on his daughter.

It is a coordinated, funded, cross-border opposition campaign to strip queer people from their rights, dignity and resources. At Hivos, we see this backlash as a call to gather strange voices, challenge data and living experiences, and deepen our commitment to working to strengthen the LGBTIQ+ movement globally.

You can’t fight this move with Idahobit posts of performances on social media alone. Actions, international solidarity and recommendations are needed to protect queer lives.

What is at risk?

This is not about identity politics. It’s about survival.

When the USAID fundraising freeze came into effect in early 2025, The HIVOS-led EU conducted a survey with reference to the network On the impact of freezes on civil society organizations around the world. That’s the case for most organizations surveyed. Reduce staff, reduce programs, or reassign budgets.

Complete international Over 120 grants had to be cut to LGBTIQ+ organizations in 42 US countries. Freezing with devastating consequences is the loss of access to trauma care for survivors of gender-based violence, and the dismantling of HIV prevention networks, discrimination, arrests and increases in violence. Attright International is just one of many organizations that had to cut grants and funding.

grassroots East African mutual aid groups using minimal resourceswithout government protection, they pioneered a radical community model by providing housing, legal aid and emergency assistance. These groups don’t just serve the community. They are a community. Their refunds are not cruel. It is a death sentence for countless individuals.

Economic Justice and LGBTIQ+ Liberation

Justice is not merely legal, it is economic. In most modern societies, justice is also closely linked to economic power. all over the worldLGBTIQ+ people face disproportionate levels of povertyunemployment, housing concerns, discrimination at work. Economic inclusion should not be an afterthought to make rights all over the world strange. It is the basis of their survival and dignity.

Still, report from Complete international, Williams Institute,and World Bank Make sure that LGBTIQ+ Economic Inclusion benefits society as a whole. If the queer community is excluded, Human and financial costs are sudden. Economic alienation of LGBTIQ+ people lowers GDP, deepens inequality, Confirmed Cycles of sexual and gender-based violence. Therefore, systematic changes are required. This includes LGBTIQ+ people in broader economic opportunities – From education to employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.

There is a strategy to introduce LGBTIQ+ to the forefront. At Hivos, through my free program, we have seen success in LGBTIQ+ economic inclusion. Africa’s Queer and Allied Chamber of Commerce We have successfully supported our Philippine partners. Lapu-Lapu City Council’s Anti-Discrimination Ordinance. Such positive developments are only part of creating a safer social, political and legal environment, allowing LGBTIQ+ people to have equal access to resources, opportunities and decision-making.

What are we doing now?

If the government doesn’t lead, the LGBTIQ+ community and our allies must.

• Charity Foundations need to step up. Several foundations have pledged To increase support, however momentum pales in comparison to urgency. Funding must be flexible and long-term, with community input leading.
• Media and influential individuals must face hate speech head on. Political leaders like Donald Trump are not “discussing” gender identity. They incite division and violence. Don’t let prejudice define the story. Prejudice does not “discuss” the instigation
• Companies must put their money where there is a rainbow. Pride-themed products that don’t reinvest meaningful to strange causes are nothing more than branding and pink wash. Companies need to ensure that LGBTIQ+ employees are supported and protected.
• Solidarity demands more than words, and directly donates to grassroots organizations and mutual aid funds. Please talk. Put pressure on local leaders. Boycott non-comprehensive organizations and businesses. Change in demand.
• Bring LGBTIQ+ Voices to the policy making space. When the LGBTIQ+ community participates in the legislative process and advocates and organizations receive funding, the possibilities for positive change and inclusivity are endless when they receive the funding needed to support their long-term, transformative impact.

Continuing the battle from the previous generation

The strange community has always faced adversity with grit, love, and fundamental imagination. But resilience is not infinite. Without funding, protection and political will, resilience becomes burnout.

Let’s do more than celebrate our strange community – mobilize it. We can draw inspiration from the 2024 protest in Peru against laws that classify transgender people and other LGBTIQ+ people as mentally ill. Dispose of the law within one month. The future of LGBTIQ+ is not determined solely by courts and campaign gatherings. It also depends on whether we appear now, with our money, our voices, and our actions. Because when aid is reduced, we will not disappear. I’ll sort it out.

Susan Gitaiga is a pan-Africa, feminist and human rights advocate, based on the belief that none of us are free until we are all free, as inspired by the ideas of Lila Watson and the collective black feminists. As a global program manager who will become free to become me Hivosshe leads transformational initiatives in 12 countries in Africa, Mena and Southeast Asia, partnering with over 160 LGBTIQ+ CSOs and movements to improve human and economic rights and resilience. A strategist, bridge builder and movement weaver, Susan thrives at the intersection of advocacy and grassroots power.