Across Central America, LGBTQ+ people continue to face extreme violence, discrimination, and impunity. In Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, hate crimes and murders remain alarmingly high—often without justice. Political repression and daily discrimination force many to flee in search of safety and dignity. For many, Costa Rica has become a rare refuge: a country with relative stability, stronger institutions, and access to education and healthcare. Yet LGBTQ+ migrants and refugees still face exclusion, xenophobia, and barriers to work and protection. 

IRCA Casabierta is Costa Rica’s only organization dedicated to protecting and empowering LGBTQ+ migrants and refugees. Founded in 2013, it combines human rights advocacy with psychosocial, legal, and employment support. The organization runs the country’s only LGBTQ+ Employment Office (in partnership with the Ministry of Labor), provides legal and mental health assistance to hundreds of displaced people, and promotes inclusion through advocacy and partnerships. 

The current project strengthens IRCA Casabierta’s capacity by expanding employment training, legal aid, and mental health services; maintaining safe facilities and key staff; and advancing advocacy for displaced LGBTQ+ people. The funding helps secure the continuity of core programs and long-term resilience at a time when international support for LGBTQ+ and migration work in Latin America is rapidly shrinking. From Costa Rica, IRCA Casabierta not only provides lifesaving assistance but also builds inclusive, community-led models that inspire change across the region. 

HBTQI-organiseringen i Asien och Afrika är lika mångfacetterad och unik som regionerna själva. Utmaningarna är många – men det är även möjligheterna. Å ena sidan finns det länder som inför nya anti-HBTQI-lagar (såsom Ghana), å andra sidan har vissa länder på senare år avkriminaliserat homosexualitet (såsom Mauritius och Singapore). Men kanske det mest banbrytande ögonblicket inträffade när Thailand legaliserade samkönade äktenskap och blev det andra landet i Asien att göra det. Trans- och intersexpersoners rättigheter har också fått ökad synlighet tack vare att fler resurser riktas till dessa grupper.

RFSL befinner sig i centrum av dessa förändringar genom sitt program Regional Movement Advancing LGBTQI Rights, som stödjer viktiga regionala aktörer i arbetet för en mer inkluderande, hållbar och mångfaldig organisering. RFSL bidrar med långsiktigt och flexibelt stöd, samt riktat projektstöd med starkt intersektionellt fokus. Dessa regionala aktörer stöttar i sin tur sina gräsrotsmedlemmar, driver påverkansarbete på regional och internationell nivå och ser till att ingen lämnas utanför. Med ett arbetssätt baserat på tillit och en princip om att inte orsaka skada, erbjuder RFSL ett avgörande livlina till dessa regionala aktörer för en starkare, enad och mer mångfacetterad HBTQI-rörelse i Asien och Afrika.

Stödet från Regnbågsfonden säkerställer att RFSL kan uppfylla sitt medfinansieringskrav, vilket är avgörande för att frigöra de medel som communityt i Asien och Afrika är i stort behov av.

In Türkiye, 2025 has been declared the “Year of the Family” by the ruling coalition — a campaign that portrays LGBTQI+ communities as “deviants” threatening traditional values. Through hostile rhetoric, banned Prides and other peaceful demonstrations, intimidation of human rights defenders, and repeated attempts to pass restrictive laws, the government has deepened repression. Existing regulations are already being used to restrict LGBTQI+ organizations from operating freely, accessing funding, and advocating for equality and human rights.

Despite this increasingly hostile environment, organizations like SPoD continue to provide vital support, safe spaces, and services for LGBTQI+ people in Türkiye — and to speak out against injustice. SPoD, one of the country’s leading LGBTQI+ organizations, has a strong record in advocacy, research, and community empowerment.

Since 2022, Regnbågsfonden (Rainbow Fund) and SPoD have partnered to strengthen Türkiye’s LGBTQI+ communities amid mounting restrictions. The collaboration has resulted in SpoD’s delivery of emergency relief, capacity-building, and advocacy initiatives — including responses to the 2023 earthquake.

The current project – funded by Sida and Rainbow Fund - aims to strengthen the financial and institutional resilience of SpoD’s partner organisations in Türkiye through developing a shared safe workspace to sustain operations, joint capacity strengthening and focus on data-driven advocacy to counter Anti-LGBTQI narratives and discriminatory policies.

In the face of growing criminalization and hate-fueled rhetoric, this project helps ensure that Türkiye’s LGBTQI+ organizations can continue to survive, collaborate, and defend equality and human rights for their communities.