White House seeks to further gay rights through foreign policy

 

The White House announced further efforts Tuesday to consider the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in its foreign policy decision-making.

In a memo released today, President Obama directed all "agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons." In short, it means the U.S. will now evaluate how countries treat its LGBT citizens in its foreign policy.

In the memo, the president refers to his speech at the United Nations earlier this year where he said, "No country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere."

And in an effort to highlight this move, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a human rights policy speech in Geneva, Switzerland in honor of Human Rights Day. "Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights," said the secretary. 

The White House outlines several steps agencies will take in protecting LGBT rights abroad:

  • Combat the criminalization of LGBT status or conduct abroad. 
  • Protect vulnerable LGBT refugees and asylum seekers. 
  • Leverage foreign assistance to protect human rights and advance nondiscrimination. 
  • Ensure swift and meaningful U.S. responses to human rights abuses of LGBT persons abroad. 
  • Engage International Organizations in the fight against LGBT discrimination.
  • Report on progress. 

Discuss this post

You go, girl!

  • 1 vote
#1 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 12:49 PM EST

Which is more pathetic, Obama not putting forth a coherent foreign policy in 3 years, or this being the closet thing to a foreign policy?

President Obama directed all "agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons."

Has Afghanistan received any assistance?

Have they received the memo yet?

Wonder if Barry and Hillary heard the one about the woman who was raped by her cousin, spent a year in prison and will, in effect, become the property of her rapist by being forced to marry her rapist.

Hey, maybe she could say she is gay and everything will be hunky dory, right?

  • 5 votes
#1.1 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:16 PM EST
Comment author avatarSickOfTheBickeringExpand Comment Comment collapsed by the community

Apparently you have to slob-the-knob with LGBT crowd to get their vote. Hahahaha!

Mission accomplished Pres. Yomama!

(show me the clown nose, fisty!)

  • 3 votes
#1.2 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:23 PM EST

If you bottom feeders have ever stopped to wonder why so many of your comments have been collapsed by the community, you should reread the nonsense you just posted. If you were fortunate enough to possess the intellectual capacity to grasp the concepts of shame and integrity, you would be deeply humiliated by your own words.

Rest assured, however, that other people will read your execrable posts and turn away, ashamed and disgusted.

  • 9 votes
#1.3 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:28 PM EST

No need to re-read it...

It was posted so as to invoke a response from you... which it did.

Thanks!

BTW... I guess the truth hurts. Why would you be be offended by the terminology used... they are not offended by it... they do it! LOL!

(show me the clown nose, fisty!)

  • 3 votes
#1.4 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:30 PM EST

Welcome to the new Soddom and Gomorrah. Obama leading the pack... How's the caldera in Yellowstone doing lately? I hear it's waking up.

Sailcat - a bottom feeder calling everyone else a bottom feeder.

  • 3 votes
#1.5 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:42 PM EST

The truth has nothing to do with your post just as your nonsense has nothing to do with reality, Sick. You are living proof that any trailer-troll with a few hundred bucks in his pocket can buy a cheap computer and share his ignorance on the internet for the entire world to see.

  • 8 votes
#1.6 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:45 PM EST

Why thank you Mr./Mrs. Holier-than-Thou!

;-)

  • 2 votes
#1.7 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:48 PM EST

Hey Sailpuss,

If you bottom feeders have ever stopped to wonder why so many of your comments have been collapsed by the community,

Funny, yesterday I posted numbers directly from a OMB chart, referenced the chart and asked a simple question.

It was collapsed ..... you morons collapsed ..... the Office of Management and Budget!

you should reread the nonsense you just posted. If you were fortunate enough to possess the intellectual capacity

If you have the intellectual capacity to refute something, do it. Care to offer up an articulation of Obama's foreign policy?

Surely you're not a popcorn eating embecile who can only offer pathetic ad hominem like the above, right.

  • 3 votes
#1.8 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:52 PM EST
  • 2 votes
#1.9 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:06 PM EST

So you can't articulate one, huh?

You want me to wiki-up nebulous crap like "smart power", "re-building broken relationships", "repairing the US image abroad" .... crap like .... "working tirelessly with old friends and former foes", "mutual respect", ..... or the classic -"extend a hand to those that cling to power through corruption and deceit if they are willing to unclench their fists."

So genius ... that what you want to go with?

How about this classic .... "America's spirit is stronger and cannot be broken-you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

And then he announces the quit by date in Afghanistan - the date when they outlast us - the date they win.

You want me to rip all the above apart with Obama's inconsistencies?

Are you any good at this?

Pick something.

  • 2 votes
#1.10 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:39 PM EST

Articulate is a word I have never seen applied to you, Bob, and teaching you to understand facts is a waste of my time. You have the information at your disposal. Whether you choose to remain ignorant is a decision only you can make for yourself.

    #1.11 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 3:37 PM EST

    Hey Sailpuss,

    So you wasted time putting up 4 replies and cannot refute one thing.

    But, thanks for answering the question regarding if you were just a popcorn eating embecile who has nothing but ad hominem.

    • 2 votes
    #1.12 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 4:04 PM EST

    Hehehe !

      #1.13 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 4:06 PM EST

      Nauseous .Clinton joins the ranks of absurd panderers the US is looking more ridiculous each day.Obama sabre rattling on China's door ,cravenly caving in to Isreal, ignored in Europe When do these fools run out of idiotic ideas.Clinton is an absolute joke as secretary of state,and Obama is the original empty suit.The Chinese must find this picture more amusing than the proverbial Chinese firedrill.Furthermore there are American children hungry at night with parents unemployed ,houses in foreclosure,financial meltown and these irresponsible imbeciles are squandering scarce tax payers money grovelling for votes.What will it take for the torpid mass of Americans to end this travesty?Very violent revolution ?

      • 1 vote
      #1.14 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 5:17 PM EST

      Oh good lord, Bob, refute what? What possible thing have you stated that be deserves reputing? An unnamed woman who has been raped? Afghanistan receiving assistance? What are you talking about? These are the blithering ravings of an unbalanced mind, not the thoughtful arguments of a normal person.

      You are the public face of a failed political ideology as well as the poster child for additional funding for state mental programs. You are by no means a rational person who deserves any consideration for his views. You deserve only contempt.

      Fail.

        #1.15 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 7:15 PM EST
        Reply

        Good.

        • 4 votes
        Reply#2 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 12:50 PM EST

        Yeah, great.

        Do we care, yet, how some countries treat women?

        This is just pandering.

        Nothing more, nothing less.

        • 4 votes
        #2.1 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 12:56 PM EST

        Pandering? So now the protection of human rights has been reduced to mere pandering in your little fantasy world? White Collar, you would do well to understand that ignorance is not a virtue.

        • 7 votes
        #2.2 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:00 PM EST

        Sailcat,

        I like your posts. Keep going after 'em, tiger!

        wca,

        From your remark, I would guess you don't care how women are treated in this country, either. It's a global issue, knucklehead.

        • 7 votes
        #2.3 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:02 PM EST

        Thanks, Jack.

        • 6 votes
        #2.4 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:03 PM EST

        So we shouldn't care about how people treat LGBT people because some countries don't treat women fairly? Is this some sort of zero sum game?

        Of course women should be treated fairly, so should LGBT people.

        • 6 votes
        #2.5 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:13 PM EST

        nisl,

        Of course women should be treated fairly, so should LGBT people.

        Agreed. I focused on wca's remark about women because that's who he referred to. I did a quick burn and responded to that only.

        • 4 votes
        #2.6 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:30 PM EST

        Everyone should be treated fairly... but why does there have to be legislation to protect some people? If people choose to be flamboyant, then they should expect to be viewed in that light. If I wear orange to an all purple party... I should expect to be treated differently. Now is that analygy too lofty to understand?

        • 3 votes
        #2.7 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:49 PM EST

        You libs are so damn gullible. If you think for one hot minute that the USA is going to base anything they do abroad, ANYTHING, on how other countries treat the LGBT community I've got a bridge in Detroit I would like to sell you.

        The LGBT crowd in the US is pissed at Obama. In their minds he has dropped the ball on their issues.

        This is Obama doing what Obama does best. Pandering to his base.

        Knuckleheads.

        • 4 votes
        #2.8 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:09 PM EST

        Well I don't know there nisl, Jack and sail.

        Does the US Govt care how other countries treat women?

        Do you think I could come up with one or two countries that maybe treat their women as second class citizens, yet we call those countries our friends?

        Do we have a specific directive from this administration to deal with those countries and their treatment of women?

        Or do we just look the other way?

        • 3 votes
        #2.9 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:15 PM EST

        "Does the US Govt care how other countries treat women?"

        US policy on women's rights around the world is unassailable, White Collar. Not even the GOP complains about it. It is only people like you who want to make it an issue out of nothing.

        Didn't I already tell you that willful ignorance isn't a virtue?

        http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/06/hillary_womens_rights.html

        • 6 votes
        #2.10 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:45 PM EST
        Reply

        It is reasonable to expect that the protection of all human rights, including the rights of gay and lesbian people, should be an important feature of America's foreign policies.

        • 7 votes
        #3 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 12:52 PM EST

        You betcha!

        • 6 votes
        #3.1 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 12:57 PM EST

        Absolutely.

        • 6 votes
        #3.2 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:04 PM EST

        Sailcat-2064101

        It is reasonable to expect that the protection of all human rights, including the rights of gay and lesbian people, should be an important feature of America's foreign policies.

        Agreed! So then there is no need to single them out or make special provisions for them since they are covered under the ALL category!

        You shot yourself in the foot if you were trying to make a case for this typically stupid policy from our "brilliant" president.

        (show me the clown nose, fisty!)

        • 5 votes
        #3.3 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:28 PM EST

        If the rights of gay and lesbian people were being recognized worldwide, we wouldn't be having this discussion. The fact that they are frequently being singled out for inhumane and violent treatment in many corners of the world makes it necessary to demonstrate America's resolve in protecting the rights of all people including gay and lesbian people worldwide.

        Your following comments say more about you than they do about anything else, Sick. Shame.

        • 8 votes
        #3.4 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:34 PM EST

        Sick,

        So then there is no need to single them out or make special provisions for them since they are covered under the ALL category!

        But since a lot of countries don't recognize their rights--and in fact many prosecute them for their orientation--it is necessary to state that this is U.S. policy.

        You couldn't figure that out by yourself? We had to explain it to you? Are you arguing just for the sake of arguing? If the latter, it was a pretty dimwitted statement and a waste of everyone's time.

        • 4 votes
        #3.5 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:37 PM EST

        What about "ALL" do you not understand?

        If we see other countries singling out LGBT's with human right's violations... we speak out... but we do NOT need to state in our policy that we specifically recognize them.

        ALL MEANS ALL! YOU couldn't figure THAT out by yourself?

        The LGBT community would tell you that they want to be treated EQUALLY... so how does this policy make them EQUAL?

        Oh... I get it... its to be FAIR! Right? Just like the special rules we put in place for all of the various special interest groups and protected classes.

        I hate to tell you... that is neither fair nor equal. How about this... how about we also put a special provision in for the 1%'ers... they are hated here in the US and under constant attack from the left... they too need special provisions to protect their rights... wouldn't you say?

        Guess not. You just want to bash them down. That's all that matters.

        Hypocrites!

        (show me the clown nose, fisty!)

        • 5 votes
        #3.6 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:46 PM EST

        No Sicko, the 1% can afford to buy their rights.

        • 4 votes
        #3.7 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:01 PM EST

        Sicko....

        There are a few countries around the world that execute people just for being gay. Others force them to have sex changes or go to prison. So sicko, you are unable to see the forest for the trees. You can say that your policy is to promote the human rights of ALL, but when other countries are especially killing the gays, you want to focus on the people being killed. Martin Luther King didn't just lobby for human rights for ALL; he focused on the African Americans being lynched, beaten, and unjustly imprisoned. Your mentioning of the attacks on the 1 percenters is just comical. I'm sure the criticism causes them to retreat to their ski chalets and beach houses all over the world. Poor Atlas, he has to shrug again.

        • 5 votes
        #3.8 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:12 PM EST

        Beyond Democrat I think what some of the other posters here are trying to point out is that women are being murdered every day in honor killings, they are mutilated in other countries on a routine basis. Where is the outrage and on this. Children in a lot of countries are also exploited in sex trafficking. I agree this is pandering. We should be calling out human rights for everyone not just sanctioning based on a specific demographic. My gay relatives don't want to be different, they want to be equal.

        • 3 votes
        #3.9 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:34 PM EST

        Sick,

        You have the global perspective of a Third Grader. . . .

        ksw,

        Exactly who is excluding women?

        • 2 votes
        #3.10 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:40 PM EST

        I haven't seen any pronouncements from Hilary on women's rights and foreign policy unless I missed. Just did a quick internet search and couldn't find anything but you are welcome to prove me wrong.

        • 1 vote
        #3.11 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:55 PM EST

        @ Sailcat thanks for the info. Still don't believe we need to separate human rights from gay rights, etc..

        • 1 vote
        #3.13 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 3:29 PM EST

        ksw62118

        Beyond Democrat I think what some of the other posters here are trying to point out is that women are being murdered every day in honor killings, they are mutilated in other countries on a routine basis. Where is the outrage and on this. Children in a lot of countries are also exploited in sex trafficking. I agree this is pandering. We should be calling out human rights for everyone not just sanctioning based on a specific demographic. My gay relatives don't want to be different, they want to be equal.

        Thank you ksw... you understand my point... these other morons don't have a hope... (no hope... and no change... go figure).

        • 1 vote
        #3.14 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 4:10 PM EST

        ideologyspoilstheview

        No Sicko, the 1% can afford to buy their rights.

        Not when the libbies get done with them!

        • 2 votes
        #3.15 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 4:15 PM EST

        Jack in Portsmouth

        Sick,

        You have the global perspective of a Third Grader. . . .

        Hey there Jack... Off there in Portsmouth...

        how does port like that any way? guess ok since he is specifically protected now under our new policy ;-)

        • 1 vote
        #3.16 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 4:29 PM EST

        how does port like that any way? guess ok since he is specifically protected now under our new policy ;-)

        Huh? Haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about. Maybe you've drunk too much Port?

        • 1 vote
        #3.17 - Wed Dec 7, 2011 7:17 AM EST

        Read the whole post out loud, slowly....

        You'll get it. (maybe).

        LOL!

          #3.18 - Wed Dec 7, 2011 1:34 PM EST
          Reply

          American foreign aid decisions that are
          designed to protect gays do not have enough teeth. Extremely effeminate men and
          masculine women, most whom are gay will have to supervise its enforcement. The
          new policy would punish the Middle-East homophobes who will have to bow to
          overtly gay supervisors in order to get an American dime.

            Reply#4 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 1:21 PM EST

            Big time pandering...unbelievable.

            • 3 votes
            Reply#5 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:03 PM EST

            "With liberty and justice for all" So is that what we mean when we pledge allegiance to our flag or not? Do we tell the world that we stand by what we say or do we continue to mock ourselves as we did before civil rights legislation and other recent similar legislation? "With liberty and justice for all" sounds very nice, we like saying that, we have been saying that for years.

            • 3 votes
            Reply#6 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 2:48 PM EST

            Forrest Grump 2.0

            "With liberty and justice for all"

            That's Right, Forrest!

            It does not read "with liberty and justice for all... and especially the LGBT community."

            ALL! nuff said. (unless you are looking for votes that is...)

            • 1 vote
            #6.1 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 4:13 PM EST

            That is very weak SOTB, they get no special rights, you going to have to do better than that or it would appear you just want to bicker about something you can not defend very well.

            • 1 vote
            #6.2 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 4:38 PM EST

            Really, Forrest?

            What's weak about it? I thought it was the BEST possible argument I could make. "FOR ALL!"

            What about "FOR ALL" is it that you don't get?

            If we are going to start making special, explicit statements to the world about protecting the rights of small, minority groups (rather than the human race as a whole), then I can come up with an infinite number of special groups that we should list.

            I'm sure that there are people out there that just hate (and wish to persecute) cheese makers, underwater basket weavers, left handed bald guys, slow shrimp fishermen... on and on and on...

            The key is NOT mentioning these special groups by name... but rather taking action when we learn about specific acts of persecution against them (or any member of the HUMAN race).

            You know... Forrest Gump was much wiser than Forrest Grump.

            • 1 vote
            #6.3 - Wed Dec 7, 2011 1:43 PM EST

            This was a much better statement of your argument than the post I commented on, however when a large or small group is being treated unfairly it is hard to take action or defend them without mentioning them in a more specific fashion. As far as left handed bald guys are concerned, they deserve whatever they get!

            • 1 vote
            #6.4 - Fri Dec 9, 2011 12:24 AM EST
            Reply

            this is what OBOMBO should be worried about when the country is being

            destroyed by his progress liberal socialist agenda! gay rights! please!

            • 1 vote
            Reply#7 - Tue Dec 6, 2011 3:16 PM EST
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