Why solidarity with LGBTQIA+ communities is a defining issue for the Women, Peace and Security agenda

There is a growing understanding that considerations for LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual) people must be part of responses to global insecurity and complex humanitarian emergencies. This became apparent during the early days of the conflict in Ukraine where anti-gender politics played a part in Putin’s justification for invasion. It is a growing focus in supporting vulnerable gender-diverse refugees. LGBTQIA+ communities are also finding ways to be a part of ongoing peacebuilding processes, as was evidenced in the Colombian peace process.

Still, some may find it puzzling why I argue lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBQ+) women need to be explicitly named as a constituency within WPS discussions. In interviews for my book, I found that more than being recognised as a doubly targeted group due to their gender and sexuality, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women want to define their own understanding of peace, security and justice.

 Why focus on sexual orientation and gender identity as a part of WPS?

Scholarship about the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in conflict highlights the unique vulnerabilities these communities face. Harm can come in the form of intentional targeting, sexual violence and displacement. Human Rights Watch has evidenced these types of harms extensively, including in Syria and Afghanistan.

In a toolkit I co-developed with Colombia Diversa to illuminate the linkages between LBQ+ organising and the WPS agenda we write:

“In practice, there are strong links between the work being done by those implementing the WPS agenda and LGBTQIA+ organisations or human rights defenders protecting LGBTQIA+ people living in their conflict-affected communities. Remember: everyone has a sexual orientation and a gender identity, not just LGBTQIA+ people.”

The toolkit answers common questions about LGBTQIA+ engagement in WPS while also highlighting ways to learn from ongoing work in countries like Colombia.

As Catherine O’Rourke and I argue, the opportunities for LGBTQIA+ engagement in WPS spans multiple forums, including international human rights law. Likewise, the Queering Peace and Security Policy Brief Series I edited illustrates various points of intersection between LGBTQIA+ rights and WPS including through the youth peace and security agenda, queer feminist alliances and Colombia’s WPS National Action Plan.

Not only is LGBTQIA+ inclusion important for having a full picture of how gender matters to peace and conflict, but it is also an imperative as attacks on LGBTQIA+ rights grow globally.

The push to include LGBTQIA+ people amid rising transphobia

Where I live, in the United Kingdom, it has also been a devastating year for the LGBTQIA+ community, with especially harmful impacts on our trans-siblings. Refusing to engage with trans expertise, in April 2025 the UK Supreme Court ruled that ‘sex’is interpreted as biological sex, a retrograde understanding of gender that ignores the UK’s previous guidance on gender identity. This ruling has far-reaching discriminatory and exclusionary implications across multiple sectors including policy, academia, law, and civil society.

The Good Law project puts the impact of the ruling in stark terms – trans people are starting to flee the UK.

“While some gender diverse people still feel safe in the UK, or have chosen to stay and fight, this climate of fear has become too much for others to bear. Ten years after topping ILGA-Europe’s ranking for LGBTQIA+ rights, the UK has plummeted to 22nd place out of the 49 countries listed. And the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has issued a red flag alert on UK trans and intersex rights.”

Fear over the impact of this ruling is only magnified amid growing anti-trans and anti-equality authoritarian political regimes where in too many instances there is an ever more conservative approach to gender. A striking example is the United States deciding to end the WPS programming in April this year after the country’s defence secretary argued it was too focused on social justice and a distraction from other issues. States such as Sweden, previously viewed as moral leaders on gender through feminist foreign policy, sidelined LGBTQIA+ human rights and sacrificed gender politics writ large in an appeal to base populus support.

It is both a frightening and defining moment for those working on gender. How we move forward, and which alliances we nurture and grow, can change the course of WPS.

Supporting LGBTQIA+ people starts at home

It is now evident that anti-gender politics and the rollback on rights is happening across Europe and the West. Those committed to engaging with LGBTQIA+ people in WPS can begin by reflecting on their own institutional practices, including revisiting how LGBTQIA+ staff are supported, how key terms like women and gender are defined, and which LGBTQIA+ partners are regularly consulted, funded and recognised as experts on peace and security topics.

• Define your terms inclusively and expansively. To confront the harmful encroachment of anti-gender views in global politics, terms like ‘women’ and ‘gender’ must be explicitly defined in an expansive way. Our toolkit offers guidance in defining these terms, but it is also recommended to work with local LGBTQIA+ The way these terms are defined may be central to who sees the WPS agenda as being about and for them.
• Remember, people are not familiar with the WPS agenda. One of the most basic ways to include LGBTQIA+ people is to show them how the agenda is relevant to the ongoing work.
• Link domestic and international policy. Because many countries already have domestic LGBTQIA+ strategies, it can be also helpful to think about how linking National Action Plans to existing LGBTQIA+ Domesticating the WPS agenda by focusing on how to best support the LGBTQIA+ community is another entry point for making these connections.

As the Women, Peace and Security agenda celebrates 25 years, let this milestone be an impetus for change. Thanks to continuing feminist engagement, the agenda remains be a powerful point of entry for considering women’s experiences of peace and conflict. Taking the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in conflict seriously must be a priority for an inclusive WPS agenda both at home and abroad.

The views expressed in this #CriticalThinking article reflect those of the author(s) and not of Friends of Europe.