French embassies to receive funds to support global LGBTQ+ rights

France says it will set up a two million euro fund for its embassies to promote and defend LGBT+ rights around the world.

A flag flies at the annual pride parade in Marseille in 2022. On Monday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced a fund for embassies to support LGBTQ+ rights defenders around the world. © Nicolas Tucat/AFP

Speaking Monday on the 15^th anniversary of the founding of the LGBTQI Core Group at the United Nations, at the start of the annual General Assembly, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced that France would provide two million euros for embassies to support LGBT+ rights defenders.

The funding will “support those who are defending the rights of LGBTQ+ people daily and all over the world, sometimes putting their lives at risk,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre, who pointed out that Colonna’s participation was the first time that a French foreign minister had joined the group.

#UNGA78 #LGBTICoreGroup
''At the @UN, I announced the creation of a 2 million euros Fund to support defenders of the rights of LGBT+ people around the world.''
_ @MinColonna https://t.co/PzSkCP0rec

— La France à l'ONU 🇫🇷🇺🇳 (@franceonu) September 18, 2023

Colonna was accompanied by Jean-Marc Berthon, France's first ambassador dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights. France is one of a small number of countries to appoint such an ambassador.

On Monday France reiterated its support for the decriminalisation of homosexuality and the fight for LGBT+ rights around the world.

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Some 65 countries around the world still criminalise homosexuality, said the Core Group in its declaration Monday, pointing to the “proliferation of anti-LGBTI rhetoric and laws in many countries, that are deepening the marginalization of LGBTI persons rather than combating it.”

(with AFP)