The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a $2 million grant to Asociacion Lambda, a Guatemalan activist organization, to support LGBT activism and provide “gender-affirming care,” which includes hormone treatments and surgeries.
The program, which began in April and will continue until 2027, aims to strengthen trans-led organizations in Guatemala by improving access to medical services and advocating for expanded care. The Biden administration has made promoting LGBT rights abroad a key foreign policy priority, despite criticism from some who warn of potential cultural conflicts.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has partnered with Guatemalan activists to help organizations led by transexuals perform sex changes in the country.
Asociacion Lambda, a Guatemala-based activist organization, received a $2 million grant from USAID to both engage in LGBT activism and to help provide “gender-affirming care,” federal records show. Social media posts show that Asociacion Lambda actively refers people to medical resources, attempts to influence elections in Guatemala and meets with government officials to engage in advocacy.
“Gender-affirming care” is a term used by supporters of the practice to describe the use of sometimes irreversible hormone treatments that can lead to infertility, as well as irreversible surgeries like mastectomies, phalloplasties and vaginoplasties. Using USAID’s funds, Asociacion Lambda is specifically expected to “strengthen trans-led organizations to deliver gender-affirming health care, advocate for improved quality and access to services and provide economic empowerment opportunities,” according to grant records.
The USAID-funded sex change program began in April and will span until 2027, per grant records.
The medical services Asociacion Lambda directs people to include services related to sexual and reproductive health, psychological counseling as well as birth control for adults and minors, according to social media posts. During Guatemala’s 2023 elections, the organization began posting infographics featuring a character named Mila who informed readers about LGBT issues.
Asociacion Lambda has also commemorated events like the trans day of visibility and promoted pride parades.
Pushing LGBT rights abroad has been a “foreign policy priority” under the Biden-Harris administration, a State Department spokesperson previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation. President Joe Biden directed the heads of federal departments and agencies in 2021 to develop plans to “to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.”
“Around the globe, including here at home, brave lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) activists are fighting for equal protection under the law, freedom from violence, and recognition of their fundamental human rights,” Biden’s memorandum reads. “The United States belongs at the forefront of this struggle — speaking out and standing strong for our most dearly held values.”
Asociacion Lambda met with U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Tobin Bradley in March to discuss violence against LGBT people, according to a social media post.
Some on the right have criticized the administration’s approach to pushing LGBT activism on more traditional foreign nations, warning that it could alienate countries America is attempting to make inroads with.
“Americans are far from agreeing on how to deal with race, sex, and ‘gender’ in schools and workplaces,” Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Simon Hankinson wrote in a 2022 report. “Even when U.S. national consensus is there, restraint is always necessary in attempting to convince other nations that one’s own values should be theirs. The U.S. must balance the likelihood of convincing potential allies with the likelihood of hostile reactions to perceived interference or ‘cultural colonialism.’”
USAID did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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