UK to spend over £30m in foreign aid towards ‘LGBT+ rights’

The UK Government plans to use more than £30 million on promoting “LGBT+ rights” across the world.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s five-year ‘LGBT+ Rights Programme’ provides grants to “grassroots LGBT+ organisations”, funds legal work to change laws claimed to “discriminate against LGBT+ people”, and shares “learning, evidence and advice” with other countries.

Currently, the Government has spent more than £4 million of the scheme’s £33,671,438 budget.

‘Pride’ concert

According to The Daily Telegraph, the US Government has also previously provided at least $120,000 to fund Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and pro-LGBT schemes in the UK.

This included $35,000 for an Ohio university to create exhibitions on “LGBTQ+ stories”, and $20,000 towards a ‘Pride’-themed classical concert series featuring “stars of the London drag scene”.

President Trump has now paused all foreign aid, pending a 90-day review into the U.S. Agency for International Development’s spending.

Stonewall

Earlier this year, it was reported that UK Government funding for Stonewall has risen, despite weakening public support.

The pro-trans lobby group’s annual report revealed that “government sources” provided £618,757 to the year ending 31 March 2024 – an increase of more than eight per cent on the previous year.

Decreasing donations and legacies accounted for less than a quarter of its income, while funding from initiatives such as its Diversity Champions schemes also fell, from £2.9m to £2.4m.

Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance John O’Connell stated: “For years Stonewall has been attempting to drag swathes of the public sector into uncharted waters which most of the British public want to go nowhere near, yet it’s been receiving taxpayers’ money to further its demands.”