The House Foreign Affairs Committee marks up State Department Authorization bill (HR 2410)
On May 20, the House Foreign Affairs Committee marked up the State Department Authorization bill (HR 2410). Section 333 of the bill contains provisions that instruct the State Department: - to create one or more positions within the Human Rights Bureau to monitor international LGBT concerns;
- to work through U.S. embassies to encourage countries to repeal or
reform laws that criminalize homosexuality or consensual homosexual
conduct or that otherwise restrict fundamental human rights;
- to improve human rights reporting on LGBT issues, with a new requirement to include transgender concerns; and
- to include LGBT issues in human rights training courses for Foreign Service Officers.
The bill was approved by the full Committee and should now go to the House floor for final consideration in June. A parallel bill is being introduced in the U.S. Senate. Read the Council's letters on the bill and more details on the current status of the bill. Full story
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The Council for Global Equality participates in a "World Congress on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity"
Also in May, the Council for Global Equality participated in a "World Congress on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity" in Paris in May. The Congress was organized by the French, Norwegian and Dutch governments and was attended by representatives of the 67 countries that have so far joined the UN General Assembly Statement on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. The Obama Administration announced its support for the UN Statement in March and was represented at the Paris Congress by Atul Keshap, an official in the International Organizations Bureau at the State Department in Washington. Full story
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Council for Global Equality Recognizes the Dallas Principles
Former U.S. Ambassador Michael Guest, a senior advisor to the Council, participated in the launch of the Dallas Principles. Earlier this month, twenty-four activists from different corners of the country, all with different backgrounds and skills, gathered in Dallas to examine America's continued failure to provide equality to our LGBT citizens. The Council expects American leadership on international LGBT human rights concerns. But with that, we recognize that our country must also demonstrate domestic leadership by promoting full LGBT equality at home. As such, we are proud to have supported the efforts leading up to the Dallas Principles. Please take a moment to read the principles at www.dallasprinciples.org.
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UN Statement Affirms the Universality of Human Rights for All
 In March, the Obama Administration announced U.S. government support for a UN Statement on "Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity," reversing one of the final decisions of the Bush Administration. The UN Statement affirms the universality of human rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and calls for the decriminalization of homosexuality. The Council applauded this important reversal of position. Full story |
