An Associated Press social media post about transgender aid workers in Nepal turning to sex work after losing their jobs due to U.S.foreign aid cuts sparked a wave of conservative backlash, with critics arguing the video made the case for defunding USAID rather than saving it.The AP post said that in Nepal, where "a conservative culture leaves openly transgender people with few legal job options," around 100 LGBTQ aid workers left jobless by U.S.
funding cuts had turned to sex work to survive.An accompanying video focused on Rubi Lama, a former HIV outreach worker who said USAID-funded programs had provided free condoms, lubricant and HIV-prevention medication before the cuts."When USAID funding was there, condoms were free, lubricant was also distributed … for free," Lama said in the video, adding that HIV treatments, including PrEP, were also available without cost.
"But, now it is gone."TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TOUTS MORE THAN $1B IN UN BUDGET CUTS AS REFORM PUSH GAINS MOMENTUMThe framing quickly drew criticism from conservatives who said the story raised the opposite question: why American taxpayers were funding those programs in the first place.The flag of the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, flies in front of the USAID office in Washington, Monday, Feb.3, 2025.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)Rep.Brandon Gill, R-Texas, was among the conservatives who argued the AP report made the opposite point from the one intended."Our tax dollars no longer fund employment for transgender Nepalese sex workers," Gill wrote on X.
"Thank you for reminding us why defunding USAID was long overdue.""Wow very grateful that my tax dollars are no longer funding a bunch of random trannies in Asia," mocked Daily Wire host Matt Walsh "Is that the point you were trying to make or did you expect us to be somehow sad about this?"SOCIALIST-BACKED MICHIGAN SENATE HOPEFUL CALLS AMERICAN POLITICS A 'DISEASE' AFTER PROFESSING LOVE FOR USArtist perform during the fir...