Update 6/17: This AIW was selected to be added to the final agenda. See full AIW ballot results.
Updated 6/9 to incorporate revisions from feedback session
Proposer: Keola Whittaker, Delegate for First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles
Defending LGBTIQ Freedom Amid Funding Crisis: A Call for Global Solidarity
Our Unitarian Universalist principles affirm the dignity of every person, justice and compassion in human relations, and the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. Our UU faith calls us to recognize that all bodies are sacred, and that each person is endowed with the divine gifts of agency, conscience, and self-determination, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.
As Unitarian Universalists, we understand that liberation theology requires us to center the most marginalized communities and stand against systems of oppression that target our LGBTIQ siblings both at home and across the globe. We recognize that homophobia, transphobia, and discrimination know no borders and true global justice requires that we acknowledge the interconnected nature of human rights struggles and accept our moral responsibility to act from a place of radical solidarity. Our local and global struggles are inextricably linked, requiring our response to be equally interconnected.
The attacks on LGBTIQ communities represent a coordinated global movement of oppression that demands our unified resistance. Anti-LGBTIQ legislation, rhetoric, and violence in one country emboldens similar actions elsewhere, creating a dangerous cycle that threatens progress everywhere. When we defend LGBTIQ rights globally, we strengthen our own local movements; when we advocate locally, we contribute to global liberation.
According to Outright International [1], global funding for LGBTIQ human rights has suffered an abrupt termination of over $100 million due to funding cuts from the U.S. and the Netherlands and pullbacks from corporations and other private donors, representing 30-40% of all global LGBTIQ funding. Approximately 90% of USAID programs supporting LGBTIQ communities globally have been terminated, devastating grassroots movements worldwide.
This funding crisis has forced the closure of critical programs supporting democratic participation, economic livelihoods for trans communities, emergency shelters, legal reform, and health services including HIV prevention and treatment. Without urgent intervention, 20-25% of grassroots LGBTIQ organizations in 50 countries may be forced to shut down entirely, leaving vulnerable populations without vital support and protection.
Simultaneously, we face devastating cuts to domestic LGBTIQ support services. It has been reported that the federal government proposes eliminating all funding for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services, effective October 1, 2025. This $50 million cut would devastate services that provided over 1.2 million crisis contacts since 2022. The Trevor Project [2], which handles nearly 50% of these specialized services’ contact volume and served over 231,000 crisis contacts in 2024 alone, is undergoing layoffs and restructuring due to decreased individual donations and an increasingly hostile political climate targeting LGBTIQ communities.
The human cost of these cuts is already evident in places like:
- Uganda, where LGBTIQ people cannot safely seek care in government hospitals due to the draconian 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act;
- Myanmar, where legal aid for arbitrarily arrested LGBTIQ individuals has been suspended;
- Malawi, where safe houses for homeless lesbian, bisexual, trans, and intersex women facing violence have been closed;
- Ukraine, where programs supporting displaced LGBTIQ people during wartime have shut down; and
- Communities across the United States, where LGBTIQ youth face unprecedented levels of legislative attacks, book bans, and restrictions on healthcare access, while crisis intervention services are being systematically defunded.
Resolved: We, the delegates of the 2025 UUA General Assembly, call on Unitarian Universalist congregations to:
- Commit
- Educate congregations about both the global LGBTIQ funding crisis and local threats to LGBTIQ communities through worship services, adult education programs, and congregational forums.
- Examine our congregations’ connections to international human rights and our capacity to contribute resources to this urgent cause.
- Integrate local and global LGBTIQ justice into our congregational mission and social justice priorities as interconnected struggles requiring unified action.
- Organize
- Form LGBTIQ global solidarity groups within congregations using educational resources from organizations like Outright International and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
- Build meaningful partnerships between congregations and international LGBTIQ organizations, particularly those working in countries with hostile environments for LGBTIQ people.
- Connect UU congregations with other faith communities to amplify advocacy efforts and resource mobilization.
- Advocate
- Pass congregational resolutions urging the U.S. government to restore and increase funding for both international LGBTIQ human rights work and domestic crisis intervention services.
- Organize congregational letter-writing campaigns to elected officials to express concern about the devastating impact of funding cuts on vulnerable LGBTIQ populations both globally and in our own communities.
- Write op-eds, letters to editors, and social media content to raise awareness about the interconnected nature of local and global LGBTIQ oppression.
- Coordinate congregational participation in solidarity events that center the voices and needs of international LGBTIQ communities.
- Witness
- Speak publicly as people of faith whose UU theology compels us to work for local and global LGBTIQ rights as one unified struggle.
- Participate in solidarity events that center the voices and needs of both local and international LGBTIQ communities.
- Demonstrate faith-based support for LGBTIQ rights in our neighborhood and around the world.
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Fundraise for international LGBTIQ funding intermediaries like Outright International, as well as domestic crisis intervention organizations like The Trevor Project that serve LGBTIQ youth facing suicide risk, recognizing that our local and global movements strengthen each other through mutual support.
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Engage in Learning
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Host educational forums on the global state of LGBTIQ rights and the impacts of funding cuts on both international and domestic communities.
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Invite representatives from international LGBTIQ organizations to speak at congregations virtually or in person.
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Develop youth and adult religious education curricula on local and global LGBTIQ justice that emphasizes the interconnectedness.
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Share stories of resilience and resistance from LGBTIQ communities facing repression both in our communities and around the world.
In recognition that homophobia and transphobia are global forces that threaten LGBTIQ communities everywhere, from our own neighborhoods to the most distant corners of the world, and that the survival of both local and global LGBTIQ movements depends on our understanding that these struggles are one struggle, we commit to answering this call to courage with our resources, our advocacy, and our faithful solidarity that knows no borders.
Feedback session recording:
Outright International has 35 years of experience working with local activists in over 100 countries and holds consultative status at the United Nations. The organization strengthens LGBTIQ movements globally through grantmaking and technical support, as well as supporting advocacy programs that amplify activist voices to advance equality worldwide. (Defunding Freedom – Impacts of U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts on LGBTIQ People Worldwide | Outright International) ↩︎
The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people, serving over 231,000 crisis contacts in 2024 alone. (https://www.thetrevorproject.org/blog/what-to-know-about-988-funding) ↩︎