President Obama Issues Order that Prevents Human Rights Abusers Who Target LGBT Individuals from Entering the United States
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 In August, President Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation that bars entry into the United States of individuals who participate in or condone serious human rights violations, including those targeting LGBT communities worldwide. The White House notes that the "proclamation also bans admission to the United States for those who are complicit in organizing these abuses - not just those who carry them out. As such, it allows the United States to act before planned abuses and atrocities metastasize into actual ones." Continue reading
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State Department Briefs Congress on International LGBT Rights
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 In early August, State Department and White House officials briefed the LGBT Equality Caucus in the U.S. Congress on their foreign policy efforts to promote fundamental human rights for LGBT communities globally. The briefing was organized in response to a Congressional sign-on letter that was sent to Secretary Clinton in June to welcome her "leadership in responding to human rights abuses targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals around the world." Continue reading
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Corporate America's Response to Homophobia Abroad
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 When a company facilitates public expressions of homophobia - even inadvertently - what response is it obligated to take? That question has confronted the Coca-Cola Company since late April, when a concert it co-sponsored in Jamaica became an outlet for homophobic rantings by Sizzla, one of Jamaica's most prominent reggae musicians. Sizzla's history of anti-gay lyrics is well-documented and well-known; his performance in Montego Bay, in keeping with that tradition, included the performance of a song that calls for the murder of gay people. Continue reading
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Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. Congress Adopts LGBT Provision
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 The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. Congress adopted an amendment in late July calling on "the Secretary of State to discourage foreign governments from condoning murder and other forms of physical violence that is directed against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity." The amendment was offered to the Foreign Relations Authorization bill by David Cicilline (D-RI), the openly gay former Mayor of Providence, who introduced it after two other more detailed LGBT amendments were rejected by the Committee along largely party line votes. Continue reading |
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Pride Retrospective: the U.S. Helsinki Commission Should Engage
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 It's common to think of Pride-related events as celebrations of gay and lesbian diversity, and indeed of community. But Pride events in Eastern Europe and the Baltic region often carry a more basic message: that gays and lesbians deserve the same rights and privileges as any other people. And that message is not, of course, always welcome.
This as in past years, Pride events were a source of controversy, even hostility, in much of the east European region. In Poland and Croatia, anti-gay protesters disrupted parades - and while police generally sought to protect Pride participants, many observers saw the response in Croatia as inadequate to the task. Permits were denied in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, Russian security forces detained Pride marchers, ignoring the right of free assembly that the Russian constitution ostensibly protects. Continue reading |
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UN Adopts Groundbreaking Resolution Affirming that LGBT Rights are Human Rights
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 For the First time this June, the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted a resolution expressing concern at acts of violence and discrimination committed against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The text calls on the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a global study outlining discriminatory laws, practices and acts of violence directed at LGBT individuals, with recommendations on how to put an end to such fundamental human rights abuses. The study will be reviewed by the UN Human Rights Council next year. The resolution was tabled by South Africa and it enjoyed strong support from the United States and a broad coalition of voting states from all regions of the world. Continue reading
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