A Makeover for the U.S. LGBTQ+ Movement

The LGBTQ+ movement needs new leadership and a pragmatic approach that responds to the shifting realities of American politics.

I spent my morning walking through Dupont Circle with the Sunday Opinion section of the NYTimes in my pocket. I did not read it. This endless post-mortem is going to get old quickly. 

Maureen Dowd cleverly titled her piece “Wake for Woke,” and I instinctively knew what it said. Others blamed the trans community for the election loss, which is predictable and dishonest. Both sides instrumentalized trans lives.

This does not mean the U.S. LGBTQ+ leadership should abstain from soul-searching and be shielded from consequences. The risk when you peddle politics without being elected is that you never have to reckon with the poll response. Take it from someone who spent 16 years at the World Bank: mistakes can be repeated forever without accountability.

After a brief PSA about “self-care then resisting,” LGBTQ+ leaders retreated to the echo chamber—a self-congratulating echo chamber “we did our best” probably on a compound in Costa Rica with well-meaning Hollywood influencers– where they are preparing to copy-paste 2017 material. They might have lost their chance at an ambassadorship or a political appointment but gained the moral high ground.

Not so fast. 

In 2017, we resisted. In 2025, we recalibrate.

The fact that LGBTQ+ people everywhere are hostages of American political developments requires a radical shift in our movement. Perhaps the type of change that ineluctably awaits the Democratic party: a change in leadership, complete rebranding, and new messaging.

It is too early to know why Democrats lost the elections and why LGBTQ+ people found themselves in the middle, but one thing is sure: the U.S. context changed Tuesday, not for four years but forever. Globally, our lives are still 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,' which means that the U.S.-driven recipe for liberation must change too. 

As I write this, two recent conversations come to mind. 

The first was in September when I sat on a panel featuring the Log Cabin Republican leader in NYC. Afterward, I received this message:

• X: Appreciate your work during UNGA this week--- but treating Charles Moran like a rational person who isn't responsible for setting queer people back decades seems dangerous/reckless.

• Me: You mean I should have called the NYPD and have him arrested? Or step out of the room?

• X: Why would you lend your credibility to their disgusting "cause."

The second was back in June when I discussed the global politicized backlash against LGBTQ+ people with another leader who told me, “The House is on fire here; the rest will have to wait.” 

Well, these people are in power, the house has burnt down, and the global LGBTQ+ community does not have a compound in Costa Rica to wait for things to worsen, draped in self-righteousness. I am not sure these people are best positioned to tell us what to do next.

One cannot say, “To hell with the U.S.,” either. Developments here influence everything for us. I witnessed how the fight against “wokeness,” “gender ideology,” and “DEI” spread through the world faster than any COVID variant. I also see the weight of American financing in the LGBTQ+ movement: the government, an American biopharmaceutical company, and the Ford Foundation pick up most of the tab, according to GPP. 

We cannot wait it out. Change is inevitable and overdue.

The first step is recognizing the reality of our defeat and holding our leadership accountable. The LGBTQ+ movement needs leaders who will break free from stale rhetoric, accept hard truths, and create a strategy for a radically altered landscape. The days of recycled resistance are over. In this new world, we don’t need louder voices in echo chambers; we need strategic action grounded in reality.