As the desperate Congress party tries to establish a link between the BJP and USAID after the US president defunded the American organisation, links of Congress with the USAID are emerging regularly. After OpIndia revealed that Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s NGO has links with USAID and other Deep State agents like Rockefeller Foundation. Now, it has emerged that the LGBTQ arm of the Congress party has close links with USAID.
YouTube channel Bespoke Bengali, in an exclusive video, has revealed that Mist LGBTQ is among the three LGBTQ organisations in India to be funded by USAID. The other two groups are The Queer Muslim Project and the Nazariya QFRG.
Mist LGBTQ Foundation is an organisation working for the LGBTQ+ community in India. Apart from working to empower the LGBTQ+ community, Mist LGBTQ also sells LGBTQ themed merchandise through its website. The foundation was founded by Shyam (Samuel) Konnur, who is also the CEO of the organization.
Shyam Konnur, who uses the pronouns he/him and won the Mr Gay India contest in 2020, is also the state coordinator for LGBTQ affairs of the All India Professionals’ Congress in Maharashtra. Konnur’s Mist LGBTQ is directly funded by USAID.
The Professional Congress leader is not only the CEO of the group, the website of the group also lists All India Professional Congress as one of its sponsors and partners. AIPC collaborated with Mist LGBTQ for the Out & Loud – Pune International Queer Film Festival in 2023.
The website of the foundation states that it gets USAID support under the EpiC (Meeting Targets to Maintain Epidemic Control) project for two of its ventures, QueerBazaar – a queer merchandise shop located in Pune with an online presence and Stories Café, a queer café in Pune. Mist LGBTQ also HIV awareness and promotion activities, and its HIV initiatives are also funded by John Hopkins University and YRG Care supported Accelerate project, which in turn are funded by the USAID.
Mist LGBTQ has also received grant from UNDP under the SCALE initiative.
After US president Trump stopped all external funding under USAID, Mist LGBTQ condemned the move, saying it will potentially reduce funding and support for marginalized communities, including LGBTQ+ individuals. In a statement issued on 3 February, it stated that as funding becomes uncertain, “Mist LGBTQ Foundation is calling on corporations, advocacy groups, and allies to reaffirm their commitment to diversity and inclusion.” They also urged individuals to support them.
It appealed, “To sustain our programs, we are now actively seeking donations. Every contribution helps maintain initiatives that provide healthcare access, employment support, and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community in India. Now more than ever, it is crucial to stand firm in our collective commitment to inclusion and equality. We cannot afford to let progress be reversed.”
Mist LGBTQ collaborates with Pune Queer Collective in various activities like pride marches, and Pune Queer Collective is a pro-Palestine group. It has participated in protests in support of Palestine, demanding end of Israeli military operation. Notably, in such a protest last year in Pune, a Pune Queer Collective said that “there are queer people in Palestine too,” while the fact is that LGBTQ activities are not allowed in Hamas-run Gaza. People who admit to belonging to the queer community are stoned to death in Gaza strip.
Notably, India’s first transgender clinic, Mitr Clinic in Hyderabad, shut down last week due to the freeze in funding from USAID. Mitr Clinic provided various services to the transgender community, including general health care, guidance on hormone therapy, gender-changing procedures, mental health counselling, and HIV/STI treatment. It was operated under the USAID-funded Project ACCELERATE.
