State Department releases Congressional report
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 March 11, 2010 - The State Department today released a report to Congress that examines the human rights record of every country around the world. Once again, the report documents a growing crisis in human rights abuse directed against LGBT people worldwide.
For the first time ever, most of the country chapters have a dedicated section examining "societal abuses, discrimination, and acts of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity." In its cumulative impact, the report makes clear that LGBT rights are firmly rooted in basic human rights protections and that those protections are under severe attack in the world today.
Responding to the coverage of Uganda in the report, senior adviser and former U.S. Ambassador Michael Guest applauded "President Obama's and Secretary Clinton's principled belief that the human rights of LGBT people cannot be separated from those of all of society." Emphasizing that "many of the most egregious abuses have been committed in countries considered to be friends and allies of the United States," he urged that the State Department develop strategies to counter intolerance and homophobia in every region, drawing on all the tools of American diplomacy.
See the Council's press full release here.
See an edited compendium of all LGBT references in the report here.
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President Obama and Secretary Clinton denounce "Kill the
Gays" bill in Uganda
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 At the National
Prayer Breakfast in Washington on February 4, President Obama and Secretary of
State Clinton both condemned the "Anti-Homosexuality" bill that is currently
being debated in parliament in Uganda. President Obama called it
"unconscionable" and "odious." Secretary Clinton, noting that the
administration is "standing up for gays and lesbians," emphasized that she
recently called Uganda's President to express her "strongest concerns" about
the law being debated there.
Meanwhile, there is growing
concern that LGBT violence is spreading to other countries in the region, with
recent riots and violence reported last month in Kenya
and Malawi.
View short video of Obama
and Clinton at the National Prayer Breakfast.
Read our blog reflecting on
the significance of the President raising this human rights issue within the
context of a religious prayer breakfast in Washington.
Listen to a noted human rights defender describe the effort of local activists to
defeat the bill and condemn its sweeping assault on the rights of all Ugandan
citizens.
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Resolutions condemning Uganda bill introduced in U.S.
Congress
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Two resolutions
condemning the Uganda "Anti-Homosexuality" bill were introduced in the House
and Senate in February. House Resolution 1064 [update the link to
the version of the bill that has all of the original co-sponsors] was
introduced with bipartisan support from more than three dozen members of
Congress. Senate Resolution 409 was introduced
with bipartisan support from Senators Feingold (D-WI), Coburn (R-OK), Cardin
(D-MD) and Collins (R-ME). We ask that you help mobilize additional
support for these resolutions by calling your representatives and asking
them to join as cosponsors.
Find out how to help kill the "Kill the
Gays" bill.
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Senator Wyden calls for LGBT human rights protections in
foreign trade agreements
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 U.S. Senator Wyden (D-OR) wrote to the Secretary of State
and the U.S. Trade Representative to request Uganda's suspension from a
preferential trade promotion program if the Uganda "Anti-Homosexuality" bill is
adopted. Noting that there are "few
words that could adequately express the barbarity of the Ugandan proposal," Senator
Wyden called for the suspension of Uganda from the African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides duty-free treatment for imports from
certain designated African countries, including Uganda. The Act mandates that beneficiaries
must meet certain eligibility criteria, and that includes a provision
specifying that they must not engage in "gross violations of internationally
recognized human rights." Senator Wyden strongly urged that Uganda's AGOA
status should be revoked under this provision if the bill is enacted. This would be the first time that a
human rights provision in a U.S. trade agreement has ever been triggered in
response to LGBT-focused persecution.
Sen. Wyden is also considering broader legislation to clarify that LGBT
persecution should generally trigger existing human rights disqualifications that
are contained in many U.S. trade agreements.
Read Sen. Wyden's letter.
Read the State Department's Response.
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Congress Expresses Concern for LGBT Refugees
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Forty-four members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary
Clinton asking the State Department to do more to protect LGBT refugees who are
forced to flee violence and persecution in their home countries. Congress
emphasized the vulnerability of LGBT refugees fleeing Iraq, Iran and other countries
that criminalize LGBT relationships. The letter also calls on the U.S.
government to expedite refugee recognition and resettlement to the United
States for some of the most at-risk LGBT individuals in the world.
Read the letter
and Senator Gillibrand's press release.
Read a recent analysis of the plight
of LGBT refugees by Human Rights First's Jesse Bernstein in the Huffington
Post.
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