U.S. gender backlash hitting UN agencies, Canadian ambassador Bob Rae says

Canada is mobilizing to advance gender equity and feminism in global forums as the Trump administration attempts to roll back diversity programming at the United Nations. Canada's ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae is seen in Montreal on Saturday, March 23, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

UNITED NATIONS — Canada is mobilizing to advance gender equity and feminism in global forums as the Trump administration attempts to roll back diversity programming at the United Nations.

“We’re in a major fight at the moment about equity, about diversity, about LGBTQ+ rights — generally, about even the concept of gender,” Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the UN, said in an interview.

“Absolutely, it’s a struggle. We’re up against a number of countries that are simply not willing to accept these concepts as being valid and important.”

Americans elected U.S. President Donald Trump after he campaigned in part on reversing policies focused on transgender people and on ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, commonly abbreviated as DEI.

Since taking office, Trump has made it U.S. government policy to only recognize two genders and has sought to kill funding for initiatives at home and abroad that advance what his administration calls “gender ideology.”

Those policies have started filtering into UN forums.

Last month, the U.S. forced the first-ever vote on UNICEF’s routine documents since the agency serving children was created in 1946. Washington rejected a consensus motion after unsuccessfully attempting to amend the documents to call on UNICEF to scrap DEI or “gender ideology” programming.

“Children should be protected from this dangerous ideology and its possible results,” the U.S. delegation said without citing specific phrasing. Some of the documents in question acknowledged that LGBTQ+ teens exist and are more likely to face violence.

Days later, the U.S. delegation called on UN Women — which is dedicated to promoting gender equality — to clearly “recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male” and to avoid “radical causes such as DEI and gender ideology, neither of which will improve the functioning of UN Women and both of which are demeaning, unfair and dangerous to women and girls.”

Rae said the U.S. is increasingly partnering with countries that don’t share Canada’s values.

“Globally, we see this as a fight now, where the United States is joining Russia, and a number of other countries — and frankly, the Holy See — who are really pushing back hard on what they see as the values proposition, from their point of view,” he said.

Rae said the backlash has emerged in UN discussions about female genital mutilation, discrimination and early or forced marriage.

Russia has insisted it is sticking up for traditional values, while the Vatican’s delegation to the UN did not respond to a request for comment.

Rae spoke to The Canadian Press ahead of this year’s session of the Commission on the Status of Women, currently underway at UN headquarters. Rae addressed the start of the annual meeting in his temporary role as head of the UN Economic and Social Council, a body that manages the UN’s most prominent agencies and most of its budget.

Rae said that from his perspective as council chief, he’s seen the anti-DEI backlash manifest in UN resolutions whose proponents have to resort to “very difficult” negotiations to find language that won’t be vetoed.

A major UN peacekeeping committee, commonly dubbed C34, has historically advocated for female peacekeepers and women in conflict. The committee’s public debate last month seemed to come to a consensus, but Rae said member states are “fighting” to preserve a focus on the role of gender issues in maintaining peace.

Canada has a long history of supporting at the UN the role of gender equality in promoting peace and security — a history that includes the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, despite his frequent criticism of the UN.

Harper’s government worked with Zambia on resolutions against child marriage and forced marriage that both countries have since brought forward multiple times to the General Assembly, Rae noted.

The Trudeau government followed that up by appointing an ambassador for women, peace and security.

“There’s a broad consensus, I think, in our approach that straddles party boundaries. At least it has so far,” he said.

Now, Washington is aligning with UN member states that want to undercut such measures, while funding is drying up for UN programming in general and foreign aid.

“We have to recognize that the political dynamics in a number of places are difficult,” Rae said, adding that Canada is among those “that are not going to back off this approach on human rights — more particularly on women’s rights, and on gay and transgender rights.”

Rae said he is especially concerned about the growing criminalization of homosexuality around the world, noting that while some countries like India have made progress, many states have “gone backwards.”

Across much of Africa, governments have introduced legislation to ban not just gay sex but identifying as an LGBTQ+ person, and to require that people report to police anyone they suspect is gay. Ghana’s Center for Democratic Development has warned that these measures, though popular, undercut democratic institutions and civil rights.

Rae said negative stereotypes are leading to “terrible” persecution in multiple countries.

“That’s why we talk about it as a human-rights proposition. It’s not about cultural values. It’s about whether or not we take human dignity seriously,” he said.

Rae said his team tries to raise issues from a place of humility, adding that Canada still grapples with discrimination but is taking steps to improve.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said last month that Ottawa is undertaking “pragmatic diplomacy” to seek common ground with countries that don’t share the same values or policies.

She noted that “the Trump administration will take its own decisions” on matters like LGBTQ+ rights abroad, but wouldn’t say whether Canada will attempt to fill gaps in advocacy or funding left by the United States' retreat.

“We will continue to fight for (the) Canadian way of life, and ultimately we will do that while having a very strong foreign policy,” Joly said on Feb. 18.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2025.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press