The State Department is funding an array of LGBT pride events across the globe ahead of June, some of which include events focused on children, federal grant records show.
Biden’s State Department is bankrolling a gay film festival, an LGBT community conference and other pride events in Australia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria in the lead-up to June, according to grant records. Some observe June as “Pride Month” to commemorate the Stonewall riots, a series of clashes between LGBT people and the police after law enforcement raided a gay bar.
“The Department of State’s Pride theme for 2024 is Pride and Protection: Human Rights for LGBTQI+ Persons around the World,” a spokesperson for the department told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The theme is a stark reminder not only of the constant danger faced by LGBTQI+ persons for living their lives authentically, but also of the importance of our continued efforts at the Department internationally.”
“Even as we continue to be heartened by indications of progress towards LGBTQI+ equality, we are also alarmed by anti-LGBTQI+ and anti-democratic sentiments that seek to disenfranchise LGBTQI+ persons,” they continued.
American taxpayers are footing the bill for LBGT pride week in the Czech city of Brno, records show. Events at the taxpayer-funded pride week included reading “queer children’s literature” to young children, a “picnic for queer youth” and an LGBT-affirming worship service performed by a female priest of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, according to the event’s website.
The pride week spanned from May 18 to May 25 and received about $5,500 worth of public funding, records show.
American taxpayers are also paying for Sofia Pride, an LGBT pride event in Bulgaria’s capital, according to grant records. The State Department has allocated roughly $15,000 for the event, which will take place on June 22.
Sofia Pride claims to be the “largest human rights event in Bulgaria” and says it is “key to LGBTI+ visibility,” according to its website. In 2023, Sofia Pride focused on families and children.
This year, Sofia Pride will cap off with an 18+ dance party, according to the event’s website.
In addition to Sofia Pride, the State Department is also paying Deystvie, a pro-LGBT nongovernmental organization, roughly $7,500 to hold a film festival in Bulgaria “to promote inclusion and acceptance of the LBGTIQ+ community,” per federal records. A 2022 LGBT film festival the State Department funded in Portugal included films depicting incents and pedophilia.
June marks #PrideMonth! We recognize the perseverance of those who continue to stand and push for the equal rights of all LGBTQI+ persons globally. LGBTQI+ rights are human rights. pic.twitter.com/m8aY6n8QwP
— Department of State (@StateDept) June 1, 2023
Moving outside of Europe, the State Department also allocated $5,250 to Better Together, a “LGBTIQA+ community conference” in Australia that will take place between June 13 and June 15, records show.
The conference will include events on how LGBT activists can more effectively engage with government to achieve policy changes, according to its website. One such event focuses on the “trans culture wars” and will cover ” strategies to win the battle for public and legislative opinion” in the realm of transgender and non-binary rights.
Other events touch on topics like “the changing landscape of queer India” and “queerying menopause,” among others, according to the event’s website.
Funding pro-LGBT events and organizations abroad has become commonplace in Biden’s State Department.
Under President Joe Biden, the department has paid to support queer Muslim writers in India, funded ballroom dancing to “uplift” transgender youth in Peru, shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars on programs for LGBT refugees in Latin America and spent taxpayer dollars on theatrical productions in an attempt to teach Africans about LGBT rights.
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