Transgender Rights in Bangladesh, Kosovo, and Guatemala: A USAID Employee’s Perspective on the Agency’s Challenges
As the scrutiny of USAID funding unfolds under the Trump administration, the $50 billion annual budget of the United States Agency for International Development reveals some particularly questionable activities aimed at advancing Queer advocacy worldwide.
For instance, consider the $1 million taxpayer commitment for an LGBTQI program adviser that few people were aware of.
The award, amounting to $969,821, went to Stephen Leonelli, a veteran activist.
Interestingly, his name has now been listed as “undisclosed” on the USA Spending website, and he has removed his LinkedIn profile following inquiries from The Post.
In his role, Leonelli was expected to support programs that “protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex individuals” globally.
According to an August 2021 USAID blog post, his initiatives included:
* Bangladesh’s addition of a third gender option in its 2021 national census.
* Facilitating “gender affirming healthcare” in South Africa, including providing clinics for “hormone replacement therapy.”
* Working to “reduce transgender discrimination and advocate for legal gender recognition in Kosovo.”
* Increasing “LGBTQI+ political participation” in Guatemala.
* Developing a toolkit to “enhance security protections for LGBTQI+ organizations in the Middle East and North Africa.”
Social media posts indicate that Leonelli has continued these efforts since his USAID award began in August 2022.
This raises the question: Why are American tax dollars being allocated to these programs?
Or funding a transgender comic book in Peru and opera initiatives in Colombia, along with millions for sex reassignment procedures and LGBT advocacy extending from Guatemala to the western Balkans — all revealed by the current administration?
These seemingly absurd expenditures serve as a distraction from USAID’s potentially more nefarious efforts, which include funding that reaches terrorist organizations like the Taliban or that could be funneled to the Wuhan lab, which is suspected of being at the origin of COVID-19.
These controversies only further highlight how Democratic lawmakers and their allies appear to be worried about the reorganization of USAID: the agency has effectively acted as a slush fund, distributing billions to left-wing NGOs, contractors, and entities involved in alleged regime-change operations abroad.
Have American taxpayers unknowingly financed what is essentially a “nongovernmental” administrative state through these NGOs?
How many politicians supporting this funding have received kickbacks from the private-sector contractors benefiting from the substantial disbursements?
These are among the crucial questions that merit answers.
The necessity of asking these questions underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive overhaul of this agency.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that USAID has largely avoided accountability and transparency.
Upon being named acting director of the agency, Rubio affirmed that “we owe the American people the assurance that every dollar we expend abroad furthers our national interest.”
By Tuesday evening, USAID’s website indicated that all direct-hire personnel would be placed on administrative leave by the end of the week.
Rubio has indicated that critical functions will remain intact, asserting that foreign aid must always be “in furtherance of and aligned with the national interest and foreign policy of the United States.”
This represents what a responsive republican government should embody.
The uproar from self-proclaimed “democracy defenders” incensed by the Trump administration’s efforts to reclaim control over government from the American people reveals the inherent hollowness and cynicism of their agenda that threatens democracy.
Benjamin Weingarten is a contributor at RealClearInvestigations.
