Supporting LGBTI Rights in the Global South: The Role of Foreign Aid
This project asks four questions: How are international actors supporting local groups to advance LGBTI rights in developing countries? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the different forms of support? What is the impact of international funding on LGBTI rights groups? What does this phenomenon teach us about foreign aid, human rights, inclusion/exclusion, and North-South relations?
Project Description
Many international actors provide financial assistance to local organizations in developing countries that support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights. This project will analyse this phenomenon, seeking not only to trace the extent of the funding and the forms it takes, but also, crucially, to understand the impact foreign funding has on recipient organizations in Africa, Asia and Latin America, including how it influences their agendas and strategies for advancing LGBTI rights, as well as their everyday operations and even how they conceptualize and label their sexual identities. Whether intended or not, these decisions have profound effects on whose and what kinds of rights are advanced, and who is included – or excluded – in the process.
Selected Publications
Epprecht, Marc and Stephen Brown. “Queer Canada? The Harper Government and International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Rights”. In Rebecca Tiessen and Stephen Baranyi, eds. Omissions and Obligations: Canada’s Ambiguous Actions on Gender Equality. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2017, pp. 69-90.
Brown, Stephen, Molly den Heyer and David R. Black, eds. Rethinking Canadian Aid. Second Edition. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2016, 339 pages.
Brown, Stephen and Jörn Grävingholt, eds. The Securitization of Foreign Aid. Basingstoke, UK and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, 296 pages.