This announcement was made by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs during a gathering of the United Nations LGBT+ group in New York. This group comprises 40 countries working together to advance LGBT+ emancipation worldwide.

France is providing this funding in response to recent attacks on LGBT+ rights in various countries. While the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not specify particular countries, the new funding appears to be related to anti-LGBT+ measures in countries such as Uganda, Ghana, and Iraq, as well as the consideration of an anti-LGBT+ law in Kenya.

A spokesperson told the French news agency AFP that the funding is necessary "so that our embassies can support those who defend the rights of LGBT+ individuals daily and worldwide, sometimes at great personal risk."

Homosexuality is illegal in 77 countries, with the death penalty even in place in some of them.