LGBTQ Issues in the United States and China: A Conversation with Jay Gilliam

Advocating for the LGBTQ community takes different forms in the United States and China, with domestic politics and cultural norms influencing how organizations raise awareness and provide services in each country. One of the leading LGBTQ rights organizations in the United States is the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), whose director of global, Jay Gilliam, participated in the National Committee’s Professional Fellows Program in 2018. Through this two-way exchange program for emerging NGO leaders, Mr. Gilliam spent two weeks at the Zhitong Guangzhou LGBT Center, where he learned about the organization and shared insights from his work at HRC. In this interview, he explains the differences between HRC and Zhitong’s programming, how healthcare and LGBTQ issues intersect, and social attitudes toward the LGBTQ community in both countries. Jay Gilliam is director of global at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), where he leads HRC’s global work alongside advocates, organizations and movements around the world to advance LGBTQ equality everywhere. Prior to joining HRC, Jay served at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for nearly five years working in the Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning, the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs, and in the Office of the Senior LGBT Coordinator. In these roles, he shared how the Agency does more effective work and maximizes its impact in the development space; led USAID communications and public engagement efforts on LGBT inclusive development work; and developed stories about the hard work done around the world to end extreme poverty.