Humanitarian NGOs, Homocolonialism and the Global Recession of LGBTQIA+ Rights

• In Event: 50 Years of LGBTQ Scholarship at APSA Mini-Conference: The Global Backlash to LGBT Rights

Abstract

When humanitarian NGOs speak publicly on LGBTQIA+ issues, what do they say, and who do they represent? In the paper, I explore the involvement of humanitarian NGOs in LGBTQIA+ discourse. Specifically, given its cultural and religious sensitivity, might the salience NGOs attach to this subject depend on the countries where they operate abroad, or should they reflect domestic human rights imperatives? Using the websites of 200 aid-distributing NGOs, I analyze whether and how NGOs make demands for rights for gender non-conforming and transgender persons, or if text is predominantly oriented around sexuality.

This paper empirically evaluates the critique that the norm of LGBT-rights-as-human rights reflects cultural imperialism because it imposes Western cultural norms. The role of Western NGOs as promoters of LGBTQIA rights is disputed as insufficient or surface-level engagement relative to the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community in aid-recipient states (Velasco 2018; Brown 2023), or critiqued as ‘homocolonialist’ (Rahman 2014; Delatolla 2020). Homocolonialism constitutes the promotion of queer rights through a Western frame, thus promoting Western exceptionalism, or prescribing acceptable expressions of sexual and gendered behavior according to Western norms (Rahman, 2014). States may also be sanctioned or otherwise penalized or shamed by international donors for violations of LGBTQIA+ rights, illustrating how expectations around human rights constitute an influential form of both soft and hard power, impacting the lives of LGBTQIA+ people, influencing the rights they are awarded (Kollman and Waites, 2009). Rahman (2020) argues explicitly that homocolonalism constitutes a dilemma for LGBTQIA+ rights, “by potentially replaying the neo-colonialism of Western politics in adopting Western understandings of sexuality for international rights.” Other scholars have argued that the applications of LGBT-rights-as-human-rights discourse has even provoked backlash in the Global South (Long, 2005). Given these effects, I argue that there are also clear implications for humanitarian NGO advocacy work on human rights.

Since humanitarian NGOs are largely Western in origin, they may reproduce a universalist interpretation of sexual and gender diversity, one which may reinforce Western standards and norms, emphasizing issues that are likely to affect the most beneficiaries, which usually center around rights for gay and lesbian persons, e.g. decriminalizing homosexuality and recognition of same-sex partnerships. Additionally, the political context of many major donor states is important. Many donor states where NGOs originate, such as the US and UK, have progressed legislation targeting transgender and gender non-conforming people, at least more than targeting sexual minorities. Backsliding in rights for LGBTQIA+ people in many-aid recipient states may also be a further impetus to reduce, or minimize, advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights, and in extreme cases such as proposed legislation in Ghana, outlaw any such advocacy (Human Rights Watch, 2023). Yet there are also instrumental implications. If an NGO is operating in a country where LGBTQIA+ identity is being increasingly monitored and/or criminalized, we may expect that it may elect not to focus on LGBTQIA+ issues, for fear that authorities could interfere with the NGO’s aid distribution operations, or other human rights advocacy.
Given these conflicting pressures, under what conditions do humanitarian NGOs make demands for LGBTQIA+ rights? First, I hypothesize that NGOs will be less likely to make demands for LGBTQIA+ rights if they operate in countries that have criminalized aspects of LGBTQIA+ identity, due to concerns over how this work may impact their operations regarding the distribution of aid. Second, I consider whether sexuality or gender identity are most commonly referenced, hypothesizing that demands NGOs make on behalf of sexual minorities will take precedent over issues related to transgender and gender non-conforming persons. Third, I hypothesize that probability of demands for LGBTQIA+ rights will be moderated by the faith orientation of a given NGO.

I will collect data collection by scraping the websites of the 200 largest humanitarian NGOs with global operations (i.e. the NGO is not constrained to recipient states from any given region or continent). I will collect information on , countries and regions in which the NGO has operations, annual revenue (USD millions), the religious background (if any) of a given NGO, which correspond to website excerpts gleaned using key terms relating to differing frames of LGBTQIA+ rights, facilitating statistical tests.

Author

• Jana Foxe, University of Washington