Claim: United States President Joe Biden has allocated $500,000 to “transgender Pakistani youth English lessons”.
Fact: A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) details a potential programme to be created by eligible partners for the professional development of English teachers from non-mainstream institutions, novice English teachers, transgender youth, as well as Afghan teachers, students, and young professionals in Pakistan. Only $25,000-$75,000 — or 5-15%, respectively — of the total $500,000 budget for the programme is to be set aside for the third component that is focused on transgender youth in Pakistan. The State Department told Soch Fact Check in an email that “these funds will only be used for this purpose” as defined in the official NOFO.
On 3 May 2023, a group of Instagram accounts — comprising @_mariab_fatimab_, @bilaalasiff_, @monahusainh, @storyteller_sameer, @rajaziaulhaq, and @no_to_lgbt_pakistan — posted stories about US President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly allocating $500,000 to “transgender Pakistani youth English lessons”.
Some of the Instagram stories mentioned above state, “they’ve stooped so low that now they are openly paying teachers to promote this filth.”
Others contained posts from Russia’s RT and @muslim.daily, which carried the headlines:
- “Biden admin allocates $500k to transgender Pakistani youth English lessons”
- “Biden offers $500k grant to teach English in Pakistan to transgender youth”
Fox News, an American conservative news channel, also published a report (archive) titled, “Biden offers $500K grant for English teachers in Pakistan that focus on transgender youth”.
In comments the media outlet attributed to a State Department spokesperson, it wrote the representative “added that the grant funds will not be used for gender transitions”.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check accessed the original document available on grants.gov, a website of the US government that publishes federal funding opportunities and that was set up as a part of the US President’s Management Agenda in 2002. It is managed by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and operates “under the governance of the Office of Management and Budget”.
Official websites of the US government organisations have URLs that end with “.gov”.
According to the website, the funding opportunity titled “Pakistan English Language Professional Development for Teachers, Students, and Young Professionals” has the identification number ‘SCAISB-23-AW-013-03032023’ and is categorised as Public Diplomacy as part of Public Diplomacy Programs for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It was announced by the Regional English Language Office (RELO), which is part of the Public Diplomacy Section of the US Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. It was posted on 3 March 2023 and closed on 3 May 2023. The opportunity has an estimated total programme funding of $500,000 — the same as the award ceiling — and an award floor of $300,000.
The RELO listing states that the goal of this opportunity is to ”improve human capacity by creating a better educated and more skillful workforce” by boosting participants’ “English language proficiency, employability, and leadership and critical thinking skills”. It further mentions that it is aimed particularly at participants from marginalised and underserved communities.
Soch Fact Check went through 10 related documents accompanying the listing on the grants.gov website.
The programme’s three components are:
- Professional Development for English Language Teachers from Non-Mainstream Institutions
- Professional Development for Novice English Teachers
- Professional Development for Transgender Youth and for Afghan Teachers, Students, and Young Professionals Residing in Pakistan.
The third and only component that deals with transgender youth would be limited to a funding range of $25,000-$75,000 if approved and is not allowed to exceed the higher end. Its goal is to “strengthen English capacity and professional capability of Pakistani transgender youth and of Afghan teachers, students, and young professionals residing in Pakistan” through the implementation of:
- Intensive professional development courses for Pakistani transgender youth from the ages of 13-25
- Intensive professional development courses for Afghan teachers, students, and young professionals residing in Pakistan.
This would be done by helping “participants increase their confidence, English communication skills, critical thinking, and leadership abilities”.
The term “LGBTQ+” is mentioned only once in the standard definition of the term “equity” — which is standard in the outlines of such programmes and is neither specific to nor special for this opportunity.
Further, Fox News’ own report quotes the State Department spokesperson as saying the “grant funds will not be used for gender transitions”.
Conclusively, the opportunity focuses on improving English language skills and enhancing professional development, is for teachers — not the transgender community — to help them set up workshops to boost English language skills and professional development, and seeks teaching experts, including from Pakistan.
Comment from the US Department of State
In an email to Soch Fact Check, the State Department said it “supports a wide range of strategic programs around the world that seek to advance the foreign policy priority of reducing discrimination and violence and promoting inclusion”.
It provides such funding “for investments in educational, cultural, entrepreneurship capacity building, skills training to strengthen employability opportunities, and technical assistance to support civil society organisations that promote and advance the human rights of historically marginalised groups”, it said in the email.
It also said, “In this specific Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the Department will provide funding for English-language learning, an integral skill that helps unlock educational and employability opportunities, for marginalised communities. As outlined in the NOFO, of the $500k funds, $25-75k will support professional development for transgender youth and for Afghan teachers, students (including girls), and young professionals residing in Pakistan. These funds will only be used for this purpose.”
Fox News’ misleading headline
Soch Fact Check also ascertained that the distortion surrounding the grant appears to have stemmed from the Fox News report, which used the misleading headline “Biden offers $500K grant for English teachers in Pakistan that focus on transgender youth”. It is possible that the headline was phrased as such to garner outrage online.
However, the headline distorts the facts as the only portion of the funding opportunity that is focused on transgender people mentions $25,000-$75,000 as the budget limit.
It is also pertinent to mention that it is not the transgender community or any transgender groups who would be directly provided with the funding, except only if a transgender individual is a trainer and also applies to be part of the programme.
Furthermore, no money has been allocated or granted to Pakistan as of writing time.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the past seven-day period using the search term, “Biden English Pakistan transgender,” and found more than 100 Facebook posts that gained over 4,500 interactions.
A number of verified Facebook pages posted the misleading claim here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Oli London, an England-born Internet personality who is “detransitioning back to being a man” over religious reasons, also posted it on Twitter. US Representatives Josh Brecheen and Tom Tiffany posted it here, here, and here.
Social media outlets such as Urdunews, Mega News, and The Dayspring also shared the claim.
It was also posted by @SouthAsiaIndex, @correspondentPk, @PoliticsWpk, @bleedgreenarmy, and @SATimes_TV on Twitter.
Fashion designer Maria Butt — who also misleadingly reposted an infographic claiming the grant “offers $500k to teach English in Pakistan to transgender youth” — has previously taken issue with the word “transgender” and criticised the Transgender Persons Act, 2018. She told Samaa TV (archive) that “she, alongside her friends, a senator, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, and a motivational speaker, Raja Zia ul Haq, are spreading awareness for rights of the intersex community”.
Butt’s have has been heavily criticised by members of the trans community, as well as some activists and members of the civic society, who believe her statements put transgender people in danger.
Conclusion: The US Department of State issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for eligible organisations to create programmes for professional development of English teachers from non-mainstream institutions, novice English teachers, transgender youth, as well as Afghan teachers, students, and young professionals in Pakistan. The $500,000 figure is for the entire programme, which has three components in total, and only $25,000-$75,000 — or 5-15%, respectively — in budget may be provided for the programme if approved since the offer is yet to go through multiple approval processes and the deadline was 3 May 2023. Professional development includes improving confidence, English communication skills, critical thinking, and leadership abilities. The State Department confirmed to Soch Fact Check in an email that “these funds will only be used for this purpose” as defined in the official NOFO.