“Many are treated with contempt and violence by their fellow citizens while authorities empowered to protect them look the other way or, too often, even join in the abuse. They are denied opportunities to work and learn, driven from their homes and countries, and forced to suppress or deny who they are to protect themselves from harm,” she said, calling on all nations to pay more attention to this matter.
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Michael Posner expanded on the topic in a press interview with a group of foreign journalists in the first week of June. The US effort on this front will have three aspects to it, he said.
- Diplomatic engagement. The US will engage with governments, report on violations and reach out to LGBT communities in other countries.
- Public diplomacy. The US will raise the profile of the issue, use media and the public space to help educate a broader public.
- Provide training, protection and support to those working on LGBT issues. A fund has been set up for this.
Nor did Clinton strike out on her own. The new focus “had a lot of support from within the State Department [and is] a logical evolution of our human rights work relating to race, women . . .”
Posner acknowledges however that “there are parts of the world in which LGBT rights as human rights – they are not yet there.”
Read the full article from Yawning Bread.
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