‘The LGBTQ community is not sinful and criminal’ was a quote made by Pope Francis at the time of writing this paper on his sub-Saharan tour in Kinshasa (NPR, 2023), denouncing LGBTQI criminalisation as ‘unjust’. At present, 33 of the 68 countries globally who criminalise homosexuality are African (Varella, 2022). This is predominantly consequential to laws which came into legislation under European colonising powers. In many African states these exist until the present day with vague wording, such as ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ (Reid, 2022), attempting to be justified on cultural and religious grounds.  Looking at Tanzania’s case, which criminalises homosexuality with up to life prison sentences (Human Dignity Trust, 2019), this paper assesses the ramifications of multidimensional discrimination on LGBTQI citizens. Inspired by the United Nations ‘Leave no one behind’ campaign (UN, 2022), an analytical human security framework is utilised in conjunction with Galtung's conflict triangle (Dutta, 2022) and queer theory to assess the multidimensional effects of discrimination LGBTQI Tanzanians face. This research is undertaken using a bottom-up approach, focusing on the complexities and intricacies of discrimination from the LGBTQI perspective, through life story and open-ended interviews as well as ethnographic observation of the queer community and key informants working in organisations helping the marginalised LGBTQI community in Dar Es Salaam. A literature review justified this bottom-up methodology as a research gap presented itself insofar as this is an understudied and underrepresented demographic.  Under the new presidency and with globalisation becoming more influential on societal mindsets this study aims to decipher between legislation and lived realities. Time constraints present a challenge limiting ethnographic findings, with delimitations presenting themselves in single language interviews due to translation restrictions. Findings enabled the community and organisation representatives to represent their perception of discrimination which were then analysed, to identify key areas requiring further research and development. This study aspires to contribute to knowledge in the field of LGBTQI inclusion in global development and human security in accordance with the SDGs of the Agenda 2030 (UN, 2018).

Practitioners and academics agree that greater engagement between local diverse SOGIESC (sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics) actors (LDSA) and international humanitarian actors (IHA) is needed to make humanitarian responses more inclusive. Despite sector-wide commitments to inclusion and localization, there is a persistent uncertainty about how to meaningfully engage with each other, particularly in insecure contexts. As a starting point for researching this form of engagement, this thesis investigates the current inter-organizational engagement (IOE) between LDSAs and IHAs in the insecure Lebanese context and its implications for inclusive protection. By interviewing staff from the two key stakeholders this study examines challenges to diverse SOGIESC inclusion, their understanding of meaningful engagement, and the current dynamics of this IOE. The single case of Lebanon was chosen because the contrast between relatively visible LGBTIQ+ organizing and the legal, social, and political discrimination against LGBTIQ+ communities provides a unique avenue to explore the research problem. The study found multiple obstacles to diverse SOGIESC inclusion and asymmetrical dynamics of IOE. The former included a lack of diverse SOGIESC expertise and integration, attitudinal barriers, and inadequate funding. The latter focused on power imbalances grounded in funding and control mechanisms as impediments to meaningful engagement. Based on the findings, lessons learned for more meaningful IOE were identified, including mutual capacity-building, context-sensitive diverse SOGIESC trainings, greater prioritization and adequate funding as well as creating engagement opportunities, shifting power to LDSAs, taking safety precautions and an intersectional queer approach.