Two weeks ago, I mentioned “LGBTQ + sovereignty” in this newsletter, the pursuit of self-determined, economically empowered, and politically independent queer communities that control their narratives, resources, and futures as a response to the new world order. A reader cheekily replied, “So your next installment will discuss how to build that power?” implying that it is easier said than done.

It’s a fair criticism. The amplitude and pace of the changes we experience make it easier to fall in love with the problem than to articulate the first steps in a response. Across the board, the people I speak with are overwhelmed and directionless. There’s a shared sense of paralysis as if the path forward for queer liberation has vanished entirely.

Our movement had placed its bets on a single horse: American support reliant on repeated electoral victories by the Democrats. We have become quickly addicted to funding from USAID, the State Department, other U.S.-dominated international organizations, diplomatic initiatives, and leadership from American companies. Recent reports describe how the reversal of this support is debilitating for our entire movement but also illustrate in their recommendations how hard it is to imagine an LGBTQ+ future without the U.S. government and corporations.

A figure I love to quote is that, according to MAP, the number of donors giving more than $25,000 to the most significant U.S. non-profit organizations dropped from an already bafflingly low 302 in 2019 to 134 in 2023 — a 56 percent decrease over five years, reflecting the disengagement of wealthy LGBTQ+ Americans.

One less-documented aspect of the new emerging world order is the consequences of our reliance on U.S. cultural imperialism. While the United States championed values that inspired movements for dignity and equality worldwide, LGBTQ+ people could envision a domino effect. A completely new American ethos, one that aligns with illiberal nations like Russia and China, could embolden the anti-LGBTQ+ movement everywhere.

Planning for the future is generally a painful exercise. It becomes even more challenging when it is not the one we worked towards. Our community has a strong preference for the present, too. This stems from a long-standing inability to envision a happy ending for our movement and personal lives. Long-term planning is not our forte.

Another obstacle is that the leaders articulating the response to the new world order are the ones who bet everything on a losing hand — those who linked our movement to a single political party as if our fight could be outsourced to straight American politicians and corporations. They also often are personally too deep in bed with the Democrats and corporations to envision an alternative strategy. They cling to the illusion that the subsequent Democratic victory will rescue us. And, as LGBTQ+ people increasingly struggle to find dignity and economic opportunities, they continue rearranging chairs at donor galas.

I wrote about how our long-term goals diverged from those of the Democratic Party two years ago in a piece titled “The Return of Vintage Homophobia Calls for Vintage Queer Tactics”: “Progressive politicians have a vested interest in making sure conservatives remain the villains in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality.”

The LGBTQ+ response to a changing world cannot rely solely on the U.S. midterm elections and success in U.S. courts. Many of the changes I described are irreversible: America has lost legitimacy on LGBTQ+ issues, and international economic development is no longer a global priority. Frankly, there is also a good chance that Democrats will become wobbly on LGBTQ+ issues as the campaign to vilify LGBTQ+ people gains momentum.

If the future evolves further into a world where “might make right,” where economic interests override human dignity, where philanthropy and economic development are abandoned, where strict norms of masculinity and the nuclear family make a comeback, and where authoritarian regimes set the terms — where do LGBTQ+ people stand?

In the past few weeks, I have thought about some first steps to regain control of our future:

— Rebuilding unity. In the last year, I have had many versions of a recent conversation with a prominent investor — someone whose track record includes backing some of the most iconic tech founders of our time — who argued that LGBTQ+ people are not “a people,” that we owe nothing to each other, and that we share little beyond sexual practice and loosely defined identities. It was a sobering reminder of how far we’ve drifted from the fierce solidarity that once defined our movement. Larry Kramer must be spinning in his grave. Many of our community’s most economically successful members share that view — intellectually confident yet oblivious to the sacrifices of our elders and our shared destiny. We must recreate a sense of shared destiny. We concede the foundation of collective liberation if we accept that we are just a scattered demographic and not a people bound by struggle, history, and shared hope.

— Establish a truly representative international body. I’d argue for an organized, democratic assembly where every LGBTQ+ person — who has paid modest dues — has a voice and a vote. This body would unite elected representatives across geographies and identities to define a shared political and economic vision, coordinate global action, and hold institutions accountable. It would foster a sense of common purpose and ownership, moving us beyond donor-driven agendas, geopolitical games, or national silos and toward a structure rooted in accountability, solidarity, and self-determination.

— Lay the foundations of economic sovereignty. Political power without economic power is always borrowed — and today, LGBTQ+ communities remain locked out of capital flows, investment ecosystems, and financial decision-making at every level. I spent the last 15 years assessing our socio-economic outcomes, and we are systematically getting crumbs. To change that, we must architect our economic infrastructure: an interconnected system of community development financial institutions, social investment funds, queer-owned enterprises, and financial vehicles designed by and for LGBTQ+ people. We must tap into our community genius to foster employment and economic independence. The Global LGBTQ+ Inclusive Finance Forum I am co-organizing this fall is a first step — less a conference than a catalytic engine to define standards, scale innovations, and mobilize capital across borders. From Nairobi to São Paulo to Manila, we can seed an economy that doesn’t just include us but belongs to us because economic independence is the precondition for lasting freedom.

What comes next for LGBTQ+ people is a question of imagination. For LGBTQ+ people, the challenge is to bridge our creativity with our aversion to planning for the future. If we are to reclaim the trajectory of our movement, we must be less reactionary and more strategic. The collapse of old certainties is not a tragedy — an American-driven queer liberation movement was also inexorably tied to the doomed U.S. brand of capitalism, but an opening. We are being called to imagine more than a world where generous straight allies toss us the scraps of their power and goodwill. Our sovereignty — political, cultural, economic — is not something to be granted by the Democratic party or won in U.S. courtrooms. It is something we must build with intention, with vision, and with each other. This is the work of a generation. Let’s begin.

Fabrice Houdart is a human rights and corporate social responsibility specialist with 20 years of experience at the World Bank and the United Nations. In 2022, he founded the Association of LGBTQ + Corporate Directors, and in 2023, he co-founded Koppa, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQ+ economic empowerment. He originally published this article on “Fabrice Houdart | A Weekly Newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality” on March 23.

GLAA will be 54 years old this year. We were founded as the Gay Activists Alliance on April 20, 1971 during the era of civil rights, the Stonewall Uprising, and the constitutional crisis brought on by Richard Nixon’s war crimes. Nixon resigned in disgrace when his atrocities came to light. The United States is facing a new constitutional crisis brought on by the tyranny of this wannabe king who feels no shame and respects no law. 

For those who are familiar with us, GLAA has been constantly changing. In the 1980s we added the L to be inclusive of Lesbians who no longer found ‘gay women’ to fit. Today, our membership, values, and policy recommendations are more inclusive than our name. But GLAA’s name accurately reflects the context of our small role in the larger history of a liberatory civil and human rights movement. 

These days, we focus on the Activist Alliance part of the name. GLAA’s core is a group of activists that volunteer their time, skills, and knowledge to collectively advance the rights and health of LGBTQIA+ people throughout the District of Columbia. Such shared struggle in defense of our communities is more critical than ever in the present moment and we invite you to join us. (Click here to join GLAA’s mailing list)

Joining local advocacy efforts is just one way to unleash your inner organizer. Other actions you can do right now to cultivate a better future include: 

1. Give monthly recurring donations to a local direct service, advocacy organization or mutual aid group. For the receiver, they are reliable dollars that enable them to do long-term, transformative and lifesaving work in your neighborhood. 
2. Go outside and get involved, in person, with an institution. Make intentional time every week to connect in physical space with new people around a shared purpose. It is a tactic of facism to keep us divided, alone, and confused. We attack facism at the root when we make connected communities of people dedicated to mutual care. 
3. Move your body. The body is a key liberatory tool. Run, dance, embrace, breathe, whatever your practice, engage the mind/body connection and access the information your whole nervous system is sending you. Explore the instincts that drive you to wiggle, giggle, shuffle and shake.  

This is the start. We must meet the ongoing deluge of disorder and destruction with the opposite: clarity and patience. Our advocates and public servants are fighting back in the courts. The president’s disruptive rampage must be met with careful diligence and humility, but it must be met. 

Donald Trump and his cronies are testing whether the U.S. institutions are strong enough to protect We The People, but he is also testing if we want to be governed this way. I think most people are shocked at the speed and carelessness of the destruction. Many of us want to change the status quo, but rampant chaos is not the answer. We need consistent, peaceful mobs, and patient interruptions of unlawful actions, and every effort small or large to advance our rights and collective liberation.

The public expression of futile anger that catapulted Trump to office is a reflection of a nation’s collective rage at being trapped in the ever-tightening grip of capitalism as it crushes the life out of us. We deserve better. We deserve a decent society, with self-determination and bodily autonomy. With GLAA we organize for ourselves a future where we all get to live. 

We cannot afford to be distracted. We are still under attack for who we are and we will not stop fighting for the full liberation and equality all people deserve. SAFETY & FREEDOM FOR US ALL! We are GLAA!

Benjamin Brooks is the newly elected president of GLAA.

It has been difficult to watch as Mayor Muriel Bowser has walked a tightrope to protect the people of D.C. Thus far, she’s doing it very well. She has to deal with both President Felon, his Nazi sympathizing best friend and co-president, and their MAGA acolytes in Congress. 

People must understand, even in the best of times, D.C. is beholden to the president and Congress. Even after home rule was granted in 1974, we haven’t had budget or legislative autonomy. Congress gets to review everything our mayor and Council do. We can pass laws, and Congress can override them. They get a 30-day review of everything. So again, in the best of times, it isn’t easy for any mayor to deal with this. Clearly, these are not the best of times. 

This past week the mayor and Council members walked the halls of Congress to explain to members, if you force D.C. back to its 2024 budget, which the continuing resolution (CR) does, it screws with the city, to the tune of $1.1 billion, but doesn’t save the federal government a dime. This is all D.C. taxpayers’ money. It will force major cuts, about 16% in D.C. personnel services, across the board. Cuts to the areas even Trump says he wants strengthened, like police and Metro. 

The CR has now passed both the House and Senate, without an exemption for D.C., and has been signed by the president. One Republican, who admitted publicly she didn’t realize an exception for D.C. was left out of the CR, was Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Appropriations Committee. She then spoke with the mayor about this. The mayor also spoke with Sen. Schumer, who then negotiated for D.C. prior to his voting for the CR. The deal included Collins introducing a bill to exempt D.C. from the CR immediately after it passed. This bill passed the Senate unanimously. The mayor thanked Collins, as well as Sens. Patty Murray, Angela Alsobrooks, Tim Kaine, Chris Van Hollen, and Mark Warner for their help in advancing the measure to restore D.C.’s Fiscal Year 2025 approved budget. In speaking of the bill, Collins said the president supported the legislation, as did the chair of the House Appropriations Committee. I hope it will be passed by the House when they return. The mayor did her job for the people of the District. 

I felt Congress’s control over D.C.’s legislation first-hand when we were trying to pass same-sex marriage. I sat with others, at the time, Councilmember Catania, and Council Chair Gray, to figure out what could get passed that Congress would approve. While the D.C. Council had the votes to pass marriage equality, it was decided to first pass a law saying D.C. would recognize same-sex marriages from other states where it had been approved. Once Congress let that law stand, the Council passed marriage equality for the District. More recently, we have seen Congress balk at a crime bill passed by the D.C. Council, and then the mayor proposed a new bill, more to their liking, and it was passed. Not easy for the mayor, and Council, to deal with. But it is the mayor who is the face of the city, and much of this falls on her shoulders.

Now the mayor has agreed to pave over Black Lives Matter Plaza. In Trump’s first term, Mayor Bowser stood up to him in many ways, large and small. He was just as nasty, but hadn’t made the direct threats to take over the city that he is making now. Part of that is because the people around him now are both smarter, and more venal. So, the threats are real. But his staff is talking to the mayor, and she has figured out giving in to small items, could save the city. One such thing is Trump’s demand, that Black Lives Matter Plaza be removed. There is also the threat from Congress to withhold funds if it is not removed. Many, including me, hate to see it go. Interestingly, in talking to some people, many in the District, including many of our young people, they don’t know, or no longer remember, what the mural meant, and why it is there. But enough of us do remember it came about after the brutal and senseless murder of George Floyd. It was a major symbol of resistance, and demand to reduce police violence against the African-American community. 

Also, at that time, the slogan ‘defund the police’ was on the lips of many. Trump’s response was to use what most called excessive force, to clear the way from the White House, through Lafayette Park, when he walked with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley, and Secretary of Defense Esper, to get a photo holding a Bible, which everyone knows he never read, in front of St. John’s Church. Milley later apologized for participating in this spectacle.  But Trump got his photo op, which was the purpose of the whole episode. 

So today, Mayor Bowser is having the plaza paved over to keep the city from losing so much more. She is doing this to try to keep Trump from his threatened executive order, which will do more harm to the District. The mayor also agreed to take down specific tent encampments, set up by the homeless, offering other shelter to them. We know she would never pave over BLM plaza if the threats weren’t serious. The mayor has said the plaza will eventually have another mural, done by school children, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country, that will be celebrated in 2026. That is if we still have a country by then.

The District faces serious budget issues in the coming years because of the mass layoffs of federal workers, and declining revenue from income and property taxes. Those will be there regardless of what Congress does to deal with D.C.’s budget through Sept. 30. We are clearly under the thumb of the MAGA Republicans, who today unfortunately control our country.

Again, I am thankful that my city is being led by Mayor Bowser. She has brought us through difficult times before. She brought us through the first Trump administration, and through the COVID pandemic. Was everything the way each resident would have liked? No. But what she did, and is doing, is done to keep our city free, and to keep our people safe, and healthy. On behalf of many, thank you Mayor Bowser. Know that we stand with you, and you can count on our continued support.  

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist.