Portraying LGBTQ+ Pride is Celebrating Inclusion

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Each year we commemorate efforts to eradicate discriminatory practices based on gender identity or sexual orientation. The Latin American and Caribbean region has seen uneven progress on that journey, but it has also taken very important steps to ensure that LGBTQ+ people live, work, develop and dream on equal terms. For example, 40% of countries have legalized same-sex marriage.

Achieving full equality between people, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, is important not only for the well-known argument of fairness. It is also essential if the region is to achieve sustainable economic growth and prosperity for all.

According to U.S. figures, discrimination against LGBTQ+ people represents a cost of at least one percentage point of its gross domestic product. Added to this are other negative effects of exclusion. For example, not taking advantage of the talent, creativity and potential of each individual. In other words, from an economic point of view, there is a case for LGBTQ+ inclusion both for the equity and efficiency it brings.

The IDB’s work with and for LGBTQ+ people

For LGBTQ+ inclusion to become a reality, we must start with the basics. Portraying their experiences, getting to know them, is the first step. For the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), promoting inclusion and full participation in all spheres of social, political and economic life is a priority. The organization has been a pioneer in intentionally working to design solutions that contribute to closing the gaps experienced by LGBTQ+ people.

In 2019, in its first Diversity Action Plan, the IDB explicitly recognized LGBTQ+ people as one of four groups that had experienced historical disadvantages and on which it was going to prioritize its actions. In the first instance, the institutional priority focused on gathering better data and evidence on the situation of LGBTQ+ people in the region and on the regulatory and policy frameworks affecting their well-being. Among other forms of exclusion, this group had been made invisible in statistics and administrative records. As a result, it was very difficult to design and monitor public policies to address priority aspects of their well-being.

Fortunately, the situation has changed. Today, there are more efforts to generate more information and knowledge about LGBTQ+ people both in statistical tools (surveys and censuses), as well as in administrative records and specific studies.

Two initiatives to support data generation in Latin America and the Caribbean:

1. The Regional Policy Dialogue organized by the Gender and Diversity Division in 2023 with National Statistical Offices in the region allowed for the exchange of experiences and best practices.
2. The first call for research supported by GDLab, the IDB’s Gender and Diversity Knowledge Initiative, gave an important boost to applied research on LGBTQ+ inclusion issues in the region. Today we have the first products of that effort published in this GDLab link.

It gives us great satisfaction to know that the IDB has contributed to the work of GDLab.

From theory to action in favor of LGBTQ+ people

In 2022, we approved our first Gender and Diversity Action Plan for the period 2022-2025. In it, we set an important goal: at least 10% of the loans we approved in that period would contribute to closing exclusionary gaps for LGBTQ+ people. We knew it was a modest goal, but it was at least a starting point. To our delight, as early as 2023 we managed to surpass it as 13 of the 96 projects we approved that year met three conditions:

1. Document a specific gap or problem resulting in the exclusion of LGBTQ+ people.
2. Propose specific actions aimed at closing that gap or resolving that problem.
3. Set goals and monitor results associated with those actions over time.

These projects reflect the efforts of a multiplicity of sectors as they design solutions to close gaps for LGBTQ+ people in citizen security and justice, health, urban development, etc.

One element that differentiates the IDB’s work from that of other multilateral banks is that the IDB applies the same methodology to mainstream gender issues in our operations, to mainstream the diversity perspective. In other words, we set goals that are monitored annually. This forces us to coordinate efforts to be intentional in designing solutions that accelerate the closing of gaps experienced by LGBTQ+ people in the region.

From the IDB Group, our operations, knowledge products and technical assistance guide the design and implementation of public policies to ensure that every person in Latin America and the Caribbean, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, has access to the same opportunities to develop and feel proud of who they are.

Rewatch Pride in Being Who We Are: More Opportunities for LGBTQ+ People.