A Biden administration-backed LGBT nonprofit group in Colombia that calls for the expansion of “sex worker” rights in the crime-ridden country has raked in thousands of dollars from left-wing billionaire George Soros, records show.
In September, the State Department awarded $16,000 in taxpayer dollars to Fundacion Sentiido, which engages in prostitution advocacy, the Washington Examiner reported. That same organization, which is based in Bogota, Colombia, has also received almost $122,000 from Soros’s Open Society Foundations, a top liberal grant-maker, records show.
Sentiido trains Colombians on “gender, sexual diversity, and social change” and publishes articles on LGBT issues, its website shows. The State Department grant to Sentiido, which began disbursing in October, was to “provide tools, resources, and opportunities to support journalists and activists in Colombia and in Latin America” so they can gain a better understanding of the “use of disinformation and gender restrictive narratives against LGBTIQ and women’s rights,” according to the agency.
An unnamed State Department spokesperson previously told the Washington Examiner that the Sentiido grant was “in support of American values,” noting, “U.S. citizens benefit from a world that is safer and more prosperous for all.”
Sentiido received OSF grants in 2017, 2019, and 2020, according to the OSF’s database. The grants came from the group’s affiliated Open Society Policy Center, as well as the Foundation to Promote Open Society, according to the database.
The 2017 grant was for “building bridges between sexual diversity and religion,” and the grant in 2019 was “to support creation of audiovisual content, interviews, and workshops meant to promote an understanding of and campaigning against the so-called ‘gender ideology’ in Latin America,” records show.
In 2020, Sentiido received money from the OSF “to support the grantee’s work to engage in media analysis and narrative change related to gender, sexuality, and COVID response,” records show.
“By combining rigorous research with our passion for creativity and innovation and our strong belief in knowledge sharing through capacity development, Sentiido builds bridges, tells stories, opens discussions, changes conversations, and provides knowledge for the advancement of LGBTIQ and women’s rights in the region,” a spokesperson for Sentiido told the Washington Examiner.
“At Sentiido, we feel proud to be supported by Open Society Foundations to promote social change and more inclusive and respectful societies,” the spokesperson added.
One congressman, however, told the Washington Examiner it is “incomprehensible” the State Department would use tax dollars to fund Sentiido.
“In a Republican House majority, we will rein in wasteful government spending, especially to countries who do not share our American values,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) told the Washington Examiner.
Sentiido has engaged in prostitution advocacy since at least 2014, the Washington Examiner reported. On Nov. 3, the group hosted a webinar titled “Stand in my corner: trans-feminism and sex worker rights activism,” which was hosted by three prostitutes.
Párate en mi esquina: transfeminismo y activismo por los derechos de las trabajadoras sexuales.
?️Fecha: noviembre 3
⏰ Hora: 6pm (Col)
?Síguelo acá: https://t.co/iDucffI55t pic.twitter.com/NwAoFDkUNz— Lina Cuellar W. (@LinaCWills) November 3, 2022
Like other South American countries, Colombia has not outlawed prostitution. Its government has also failed to “proactively investigate, prosecute, or convict cases of forced labor,” and armed organizations often make women and young girls do “webcam modeling” and drug them so they can have sexual relations, the State Department said in a 2021 report.
Out of 142 countries, Colombia ranks 27th on the global crime index, a database tracking crime levels by assigning countries scores in the range of zero to 100. Colombian children are at solid risk of being forced into prostitution, the U.S. government has found in the past.
Sentiido, though, has slammed the Colombian police’s efforts to regulate prostitution and boosted “webcam sex work,” claiming the practice guards prostitutes from “economic exploitation.” The organization has also promoted a variety of COVID-19 “emergency funds” for people to donate to prostitutes and pro-prostitution groups.
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“Fanatical, woke organizations like Fundacion Sentiido shouldn’t be propped up with American taxpayer dollars, and they certainly shouldn’t be using those dollars to promote prostitution, radical gender indoctrination for children, and all manner of depravity abroad,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who sits on the influential House Judiciary Committee, previously told the Washington Examiner.
The OSF did not respond to a request for comment.
