Global Norm Diffusion of LGBTI Diplomacy

Abstract

Summary This article examines the genesis of LGBTI diplomacy across ministries of foreign affairs (MFA s). Examining primarily Sweden and the United States, insights are provided into early LGBTI diplomatic adoption in the 2000 s. It analyses how foreign policy leaders have peer-pressured, inspired and influenced another, and continue to do so, to include LGBTI rights into their foreign policy agendas. As a former US diplomat and scholar, the author utilises primary source data and high-level interviews from the US, Sweden and the EU. Findings indicate that Swedish diplomats played a unique role in norm entrepreneurship in the development of global LGBTI diplomacy. Diplomats across North America and the EU replicated Sweden’s policy framing and programmatic strategies for global LGBTI rights. From the State Department side, once US diplomats joined the small community of nations engaged in LGBTI diplomacy, US political influence served to legitimise and further prioritise LGBTI rights across global institutions.