Should Peace Corps Volunteers Be Assigned to Work with LGBT Projects?

- Alan Silverman, RPCV, Senegal

Over the past few years, as a member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) US Peace Corps Alumni, and following the conversations on our listserv, I have been struck by the fact that Peace Corps volunteers do not – with very few exceptions – work directly with LGBT efforts in the developing world. (You can see examples of the few exceptions I am aware of – Grenada, Jamaica, Moldova and Romania – on the Articles page of our website http://www.lgbrpcv.org.)

I went back to the LGBT RPCV mission, which on our website reads, “to promote Peace Corps ideals and the legal, political and social rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people around the world.” What are we really doing in this regard? I’m not sure we’ve done much! Yes, we have been active in supporting potential and current volunteers, in serving as a forum for returned LGBT volunteers, in sending out information about LGBT issues in the developing world, and even in giving some funds for a few projects related to HIV and LGBT efforts (although these funds have mostly gone to former PCVs.) Shouldn’t we be doing more to ensure Peace Corps directly supports projects of benefit to LGBT people in the developing world?

The closest we may come to doing this in a significant way is in Peace Corps’ work on projects related to HIV. But even on HIV, support for LGBT people is incidental. Are there Peace Corps volunteers assigned to support projects that specifically focus on men who have sex with men (MSM), in spite of extremely high rates of infection among MSM in many developing countries around the world? I am not aware of any such endeavors.

My own thinking is that maybe the time is ripe to open the door to more formal – or perhaps informal – relationships with LGBT efforts in the developing world. With President Obama and the new administration, we may have a better chance to at least be heard, and maybe even to make progress by having Peace Corps country offices explore opportunities for volunteer placements to support LGBT issues.

To begin to look into possibilities, with approval from our Steering Committee, we have been informally in touch with a number of organizations in the developing world who work to ensure the rights of and services for LGBT people in their home countries. Some countries, like Nepal, have formal recognition of LGBT groups and recognize their human rights through legislation. Others, such as Uganda, have oppressive laws and have violated human rights of LGBT people. In almost all cases, LGBT groups operate in very challenging environments.

I started by writing to ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Association. They sent out a message to their members and asked those who may be interested to contact me. I then sent a follow-up email asking if they would be interested in Peace Corps support and about possible ways that PCVs could work with LGBT groups in their countries. I asked if they thought that (mostly) 'young gay Americans' getting involved would be more of a plus or counter-productive. I asked if they had ideas about what PCVs may be able to get involved in and best way of doing so. I emphasized that we would need to be selective in what would be supported since Peace Corps focuses on development issues in a non-political way.

I heard back from nationals of Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Not all of them are countries where Peace Corps works, but all said that they would benefit from and welcome Peace Corps involvement by having a PCV assigned to work with them. Here are some of their ideas:

• Health volunteers could assist with male sexual health projects, such as VCT clinics, focused on MSM. This might include facilitating sexual health workshops.

• Helping them to examine and then integrate best practices around the world on male-to-male sex work, sexual health for MSM, projects done on prisoners regarding HIV.

• Helping to undertake local surveys of sexual minorities on a variety of issues to be able to better understand the local situation; conducting formative research on the knowledge, attitudes and sexual behavior of people involved in same sex relationships.

• Working with street children and youth who are sexual minorities, often ostracized from their families and communities.

• Formulating strategic plans in consultation with individuals representing sexual minority groups as well as colleagues from the health and human rights sectors.

• Organizing sensitization workshops with sexual minority groups on issues of human rights, health, HIV and economic empowerment.

• Launching media campaigns to increase visibility and sensitize society on issues affecting sexual minorities; working to sensitize the media itself in this regard.

• Lobbying relevant stakeholders for inclusion of issues affecting sexual minorities in all aspects of development programs.

• Fundraising with external donors (such as local embassies and international NGOs) in order to begin and sustain activities. Getting funding from local sources is too often not possible.

While these ideas may not all be possible, and certainly not possible in all countries, I am convinced that the time is right to explore – even if in just a few countries – how Peace Corps could be involved in LGBT efforts.

We would soon like to open this dialogue with the Peace Corps administration, but before we do, we’d like to hear from you, current and former PCVs. What do you think?

Please send any ideas you have and let’s get a dialogue going. Are the above ideas feasible? What opportunities do you see to begin direct work with LGBT groups in your current or former countries of assignment? What constraints do you see – and how could they be overcome?

To send your responses, you can respond on our listserv (lgbrpcv@yahoogroups.com) if you are a participant (if you are not a member, you can subscribe at lgbrpcv-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and then respond when the monitor lets you know that you are accepted). Or you can email me directly at afs.nyc@gmail.com. I will compile all responses and share them in a summary email on our listserv.

Let’s see if we can come closer to our mission of promoting “Peace Corps ideals and the legal, political and social rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people around the world.”