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For the most part, sexual and gender minorities occupy a marginal place in international development cooperation. Many reproductive health programs dedicate resources to “men who have sex with men” and some embassies provide small grants to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) organizations. In addition, donor countries and officials sometimes make public statements in support of LGBTQ+ people and their rights, but the latter are rarely at the core of foreign aid programs and other forms of development cooperation. This panel seeks to explore various dimensions of the role LGBTQ+ rights play, don’t play or could play in development cooperation. Potential paper topics include (but are by no means limited to): case studies of donor countries’ or international organizations’ work in this area; how international assistance for sexual and gender minorities is received and perceived in development countries; theorizing the place of LGBTQ+ rights in North-South relations; the effectiveness of assistance for LGBTQ+ rights; best practices in mainstreaming LGBTQ+ rights in international development cooperation programs and projects; the impact that international assistance has on local LGBTQ+ organizations; donor coordination or the lack thereof on LGBTQ+ rights; the national backlash caused by international support to LGBTQ+ rights; South-South Cooperation and LGBTQ+ rights; the place of LGBTQ+ rights in international norms and development frameworks, such as the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Sustainable Development Goals; strategies for improving international support for LGBTQ+ rights; the place of LGBTQ+ rights in specific development sectors, such as education, humanitarian assistance, health, conflict resolution and transitional justice; the tensions and inequities among the different components of sexual and gender minorities; and the impact of the intersection of LGBTQ+ identities with other identities. The panel will reflect a variety of perspectives. Submission of abstracts from scholars from the Global South is especially welcome.