In Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu, the Parichaya Samaj center, once a beacon of LGBTQ+ rights and support, now stands silent with its gates padlocked. A stark notice hangs at its entrance, declaring its inability to assist any longer. The bustling staff and dedicated volunteers who once powered the center have dispersed.
The closure of such crucial support centers is a direct result of funding cuts initiated during the Trump administration’s approach towards downsizing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This agency had been instrumental in providing humanitarian support globally, including significant aid to Nepal’s LGBTQ+ sector. Without this lifeline, many of these essential centers have shuttered, leaving thousands without critical resources.
This development represents an unsettling reversal for Nepal’s vibrant and expanding LGBTQ+ community, which had been making remarkable strides in recent years. “It is a big crisis,” remarked Sunil Babu Pant, a prominent LGBTQ+ advocate and one of Nepal’s first openly gay parliamentarians. “When the community needs counseling or support, it is absent. People are going back to the closet again.”
Nepal had been a trailblazer in the region, granting the right to same-sex marriage and enshrining protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation in its 2015 constitution. Generous U.S. funding had previously bolstered campaigns supporting these rights.
For years, alongside other donors, USAID supported initiatives related to HIV prevention and safe-sex counseling. It funded the operation of centers and clinics that offered indispensable services such as dispensing free condoms and providing HIV screenings and treatment follow-ups. Now, with the USAID office in Nepal shuttered, these gains are in jeopardy.
Speaking about the potential consequences, Babu Dumi Rai, a former worker at a now-defunct help center in Kathmandu, highlighted the looming threat of increased HIV infections. “In our community, people are hesitant to buy condoms, and many of them are not even aware they need to use a condom or even how to properly use them,” Rai noted. “With all these projects and services shuttered, there is now a very big risk of the HIV infections to be on the rise.”
Current estimates suggest that between 15,000 and 20,000 people living with HIV in Nepal belong to the LGBTQ+ community, a concern echoed by Dinesh Chaudhury, who previously worked in these support centers. He stressed the critical medical assistance these centers offered, which is now difficult to replace as community members face inconsistent treatment at government hospitals and medical facilities.
“It is uncertain where they can go to get help in the coming days,” Chaudhury explained. “I have so many people come with questions on where they can go, but I have no answer.”
The impact of these closures has also rippled through the sex worker community, an area where members feel increasingly vulnerable. Simple Lama, a transgender sex worker, shared the challenges now faced in accessing medical help and safe sex supplies. “It was easier and safer to go to the centers and clinics to get medical help and consultations,” Lama said. “But now it is difficult to go to big hospitals, and when we go to the regular hospitals, people look at us differently, treat us differently.”
Sex work remains illegal across Nepal, leading to routine harassment by authorities. While transgender sex workers often find some protection through LGBTQ+ advocacy efforts, the dwindling resources force many from the community to turn to sex work as their only viable option. “Quite a few of them have started doing sex work,” acknowledged Pant, reflecting on the dire situation. “Because of the scarcity of jobs and opportunities, a lot of trans and third genders are surviving as sex workers.”