The Biden administration has come under fire for sending tax dollars to support a ballroom dancing initiative in Peru, despite the struggling U.S. economy. The initiative is aimed at “uplifting transgender and gender-diverse” young people in the country.
The funding for this initiative comes directly from the U.S. Department of State’s Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund (CDAF). This fund provides grants of up to $10,000 annually to support projects led by U.S. citizen exchange alumni that address various issues faced by communities around the world.
One of the programs funded in 2023 is “Ballroom Saves Lives: Resiliency and Wellness in Peru,” which seeks to uplift transgender and gender diverse youth leaders in Lima. The initiative aims to achieve this through arts-based ballroom spaces, connecting LGBTQIA+ people with healthcare resources, and fostering trust with health providers. Ballroom dancing is a traditional art form rooted in the Black and Latinx LGBTQIA community.
Launched in 2019, CDAF has provided $1.85 million in grants, highlighting the significant investment made by the U.S. State Department in funding these initiatives.
In addition to the program in Peru, the CDAF has funded various other programs in the past, including initiatives focused on jazz, hip-hop, graffiti, and dance, as well as projects aimed at empowering women leaders in rural Morocco.
This is not the first time that the State Department has supported initiatives focused on the LGBTQ+ community. In the past, the State Department funded an LGBTQ+ film festival in Portugal that showcased movies depicting incest and relationships between minors and adults. The department defended its decision by citing its commitment to protecting and promoting the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons.
Critics of the administration have pointed to the current economic struggles of the American people and questioned the allocation of taxpayer funds to support initiatives overseas, especially those that are perceived as being unrelated to the State Department’s core mission.
While the Biden administration has expressed its commitment to supporting marginalized communities both domestically and internationally, the use of taxpayer funds for initiatives such as ballroom dancing in Peru has raised concerns about the priorities of the administration and the allocation of resources in times of economic hardship. The controversy surrounding the funding of these initiatives is likely to fuel further debate about the role of the U.S. government in supporting global initiatives and the criteria for selecting and funding such programs.
