Spotting the Signs of Democratic Backsliding Through Infringements on LGBTQI+ Rights

The past two decades have seen a rise in democratic backsliding coupled with state-sanctioned rhetoric and policymaking targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) people globally. Democratic backsliding is a threat to USAID objectives globally and across all sectors. The 2023 LGBTQI+ Inclusive Development Policy recognizes that locally-led, LGBTQI+ inclusive development strengthens livelihoods, economies, and democracies. The Policy provides a blueprint for integrating LGBTQI+ individuals in USAID policy and programming. 

Since 2015, the number of countries backsliding has surpassed the number democratizing, and in 2023 80 percent of the world’s population lived in a country with some restriction on freedoms. LGBTQI+ people have become a particular target of authoritarian and autocratic leaders and movements in a period of increased polarization around LGBTQI+ rights. A new study from the University of California, Los Angelas (UCLA)  School of Law Williams Institute uses Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) data and the LGBTI Global Acceptance Index to examine the relationship between indicators of liberal democracy and acceptance of LGBTQI+ people around the world. The study is the first to do so with a comparative perspective across four countries: Brazil, Indonesia, Poland, and Ghana. This learning digest presents key findings from the Williams Institute report along with other research on the topic and the implications for USAID’s democracy, human rights, and governance (DRG) work. 

In celebration of Pride month commemorated in June, this edition of the DRG Learning Digest examines the following topics:

• LGBTQI+ Acceptance and Democracy
• Why Attacks on LGBTQI+ Rights Can Signal Democratic Trouble
• Supporting the LGBTQI+ Community Supports Liberal Democracy