March 28, 2022 — Our periodic newsletter has a roundup of U.S. global engagement to support the human rights of LGBTQI communities abroad. It is also available online here.
UKRAINE
The Council for Global Equality (CGE) is deeply concerned and closely monitoring the Russian war in Ukraine. We applaud the White House announcement that the United States will welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the United States, but we recognize that it will take concerted action to rebuild our refugee processing system to practically accommodate those numbers on top of this fiscal year’s goal of 125,000 refugees. The United State only admitted 11,411 refugees in the last fiscal year through normal channels, which was the lowest level in forty years and well below the target of 62,500 refugees set by the Biden Administration.
We also are pleased that the United States is launching the European Democratic Resilience Initiative (EDRI), which is intended to provide at least $320 million in new funding for Ukraine to support societal resilience and “increase the safety and security of activists and vulnerable groups including LGBTQI+ persons.” The State Department and USAID need to program that funding as a matter of urgency.
We also are partnering with Congressional and administration leaders to ensure that the U.S. response to the Russian invasion includes support for the safety of LGBTQI Ukrainians and genuine inclusion in humanitarian support for the millions of Ukrainian civilians trying to live through the war. We’ve joined with advocacy groups and members of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus in calling for temporary protected status (TPS) for Ukrainians in the United States – which has now been awarded – and targeted refugee support for Ukrainians fleeing the conflict.
CGE is continuing to curate coverage of war’s implication for LGBTQI people in Ukraine, Russia, and the countries to which refugees have fled, as well as of the Russian leadership’s use of homophobia and transphobia to justify the invasion, target activists, and undermine freedom and democracy in Ukraine. Astonishingly, Russian religious propaganda now suggests that gay pride parades in Ukraine, apparently both the ultimate symbol and symptom of western decadence, triggered the invasion. For better or worse, our communities are caught in the global crosshairs of political and cultural realignments, and LGBTQI intolerance is now an unmistakable barometer of democratic backsliding.
We have also identified critical humanitarian needs for Ukraine’s LGBTQI community and salute OutRight Action International’s urgent fundraising campaign to support the community.
UKRAINE, AFGHANSTAN, AND OTHER REFUGEE CRISES
Six months ago, CGE, along with five of its members and allies, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to express concern for Afghanistan’s LGBTQI people in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover last August. In particular, CGE and its allies released a Ten-Point Plan to Protect LGBTQI Afghan Refugees that called on the Biden Administration to protect and safely resettle LGBTQI Afghans who face death sentences under Taliban rule.
Many of the concerns expressed six months ago for the safety and security of Afghan LGBTQI refugees, unfortunately, proved accurate. A January 2022 report, “Even If You Go to the Skies, We’ll Find You,” from Human Rights Watch and OutRight Action International, documented many interviewees being attacked, sexually assaulted, or directly threatened by members of the Taliban because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Others reported abuse from family members, neighbors, and romantic partners who now support the Taliban or believed they had to take action against LGBTQI people close to them to ensure their own safety.
Today, the eyes of the world are, appropriately, on Ukraine. With almost 3 million refugees having fled Ukraine as of this writing, CGE and its partners are reminded of the ever-present threat of displacement for the LGBTQI community in situations of conflict or humanitarian crisis.
The Ukrainian crisis is the latest example that demonstrates the urgency of addressing the needs of the most marginalized within the world’s refugee and asylum systems, but far too often, policy changes are too slow to bring LGBTQI refugees to safety. Closer to home, the refugees waiting in dangerous conditions in Mexico to seek asylum in the United States are yet another all-but-forgotten reminder of our failure to protect the most vulnerable refugees at our own door.
Despite the rapidly worsening emergency in Ukraine and the ongoing crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, we must not lose sight of what is happening in Afghanistan because solutions being piloted there could help LGBTQI refugees elsewhere.
THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION, 14 MONTHS IN
Looking back over the past year-plus, CGE has seen significant progress in advancing LGBTQI human rights though U.S. foreign policy, but also recognizes there is far to go to deliver on the historic promises of the February 2021 Presidential Memorandum on advancing LGBTQI human rights around the world. While CGE awaits the State Department’s forthcoming one-year report on progress under the Presidential Memorandum, our blog offers numerous observations on the progress that we’ve seen to date, along with the priorities that clearly remain to be addressed.
On March 16, Jessica Stern, the Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the steps the Biden Administration is taking to promote inclusive democracy for LGBTQI people around the world.
SUMMIT FOR DEMOCRACY
In December, the Biden Administration hosted a virtual Summit for Democracy for 110 countries, which is to be followed by an in-person summit in early 2023. It is critical that metrics be established to ensure that those invited to the phase-two Summit show broad and specific progress toward democracy, human rights, and LGBTQI inclusion. CGE and other democracy and human rights groups have called on the Biden Administration to weigh actions by each of the 110 participating states as part of the “year of action” between the two summits, including efforts by each of the governments to promote the rights and democratic participation of their LGBQI citizens. To assist in this effort, CGE produced “report cards” marking LGBTQI commitments and progress toward LGBTQI equality goals in each participating country in advance of the 2021 Summit. All countries, including the United States, should commit to improving their scores before CGE issues new report cards during the next Summit.
You can view our webinar on the Summit for Democracy report cards (produced in collaboration with the Franklin & Marshall Global Barometers project), along with the discussion paper outlining the impact that CGE hopes to see come out of the Summit in regard to LGBTQI communities around the world. Additionally, the State Department is collecting written commitments here from the participants of the first Summit.
GLOBAL RESPECT ACT
In February, in a 227-206 vote with bipartisan support, the House of Representatives passed the Global Respect Act (H.R. 3485), a bill introduced by Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) and Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) to sanction those who persecute LGBTQI individuals and report on global human rights abuses. The bill revokes U.S. visas for those who commit gross violations of human rights targeting LGBTQI individuals, including acts of murder, torture, or prolonged arbitrary detention. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi recognized the historic significance of this first global LGBTQI bill to reach the House floor, noting that the “House took a bold step forward in protecting the fundamental rights and dignities of the global LGBTQ community.” The Global Respect Act now heads to the U.S. Senate, where it also enjoys bipartisan support.
PEPFAR
Last September, the White House offered its nomination of Dr. John Nkengasong to serve as Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally. Last week, Dr. Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, finally received his long-overdue Senate confirmation hearing.
The Council for Global Equality calls on the Senate to swiftly confirm Dr. Nkengasong to lead PEPFAR, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Dr. Nkengasong, with three decades of experience in global health — including serving as founding Director of Africa CDC since 2016 — is eminently qualified for this position.
To reach the goal of ending HIV/AIDS as a public threat this decade, and especially to address the urgent needs of LGBTI people and other key populations, we need evidence-based strategies grounded in human rights principles. The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt significant setbacks to HIV prevention and treatment services, according to a recent report from the Global Fund. In that context, it is remarkable that PEPAR has maintained its status quo in providing HIV treatment and prevention services in dozens of countries. But without the leadership and diplomatic power of a confirmed Ambassador, PEPFAR cannot transcend the status quo, and the status quo is failing LGBTI people and other key populations.
AT THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT
In February, the Senate confirmed Chantelle Wong as the U.S. Executive Director to the Asian Development Bank, making her the first openly lesbian U.S. Ambassador and the first LGBTQI U.S. Ambassador of color.
An extraordinarily qualified professional, Ambassador Wong’s 30-plus years of experience and expertise in international development, finance, the environment, and technology make her incalculably qualified for this role. While CGE applauds the Biden-Harris Administration for Ambassador Wong’s historic confirmation, the nomination barely dents the stunning underrepresentation of LGBTQI people of color, lesbians, and trans people in the foreign affairs arena generally and especially for top diplomatic posts. By nominating more ambassadors who, through their lived experiences, possess a deep understanding of the fundamentally linked harms of racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia, we have an opportunity to promote an American foreign policy that meaningfully upholds the full humanity of all persons.
AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT
With the above in mind, CGE observed International Women’s Day by celebrating lesbian leaders at the State Department: Elizabeth Lee (Consul General in Thessaloniki, Greece), Eliza Al-Laham (Consul General in Guadalajara, Mexico), Kerri Hannan (Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Policy, Planning, and Coordination in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs), Lucia Piazza (Director of the Foreign Service Board of Examiners), Lynn Sicade (Senior Advisor for Multilateral and Global Human Rights Policy, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor), and Special Envoy Jessica Stern.
Last fall, the State Department issued its very first U.S. passport with a nonbinary X gender marker. This is a historic step to affirm the dignity and protection of intersex and nonbinary U.S. citizens as they travel abroad. The passport was issued to pioneering activist Dana Zzyym, who called the passport “liberating.” Special Envoy Jessica Stern noted that “when a person obtains identity documents that reflect their true identity, they live with greater dignity and respect.” They also are safer and more secure. The full rollout of nonbinary options for all U.S. passport holders is expected in the coming months.
We also want to take a moment to remember James Hormel, the first openly gay U.S. Ambassador, who passed away last August. After opposition from anti-LGBTQI Senators blocked his confirmation, President Clinton issued a recess appointment for Hormel, who represented the U.S. as Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1999 to 2001. We remember Ambassador Hormel for his generosity and friendship, and for affirming that LGBTQI people are part of America’s face to the world. We honor his service to our country. And we join with so many others in thanking him and his family for a life well-lived.
GLOBAL LGBTQI DEVELOPMENTS
Civil Society and LGBTQI Youth
Around the world, attacks on the fundamental human rights of LGBTQI people broadly, and on LGBTQI youth in particular, continue to be the canary in the coal mine, as authoritarians seek to repress independent civil society, frequently under the cynical guise of “protecting” families and vulnerable youth. This is just as true in the United States, with anti-trans bills and policies stacking up in state legislatures, as it is in other countries.
In Hungary, after previous laws to end legal recognition for transgender and intersex persons, limit marriage to heterosexual couples, and prohibit adoption by same-sex couples, voters will head to the polls next month for a referendum on whether to prohibit LGBTQI-affirming content in school materials or media programs aimed at youth. Meanwhile, Poland’s ruling nationalist party passed a law centralizing government control over schools, with the goal of limiting discussion of LGBTQI and reproductive rights and of sex education. President Andrzej Duda vetoed the law at the beginning of March, noting the need to focus on the Ukraine crisis but leaving the door open to revisit the goals of the bill.
The rhetoric of “protecting” children by attacking transgender youth in Hungary and Poland directly mirrors the new directive from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott criminalizing health care for transgender youth, similar legislation advancing in Idaho and Alabama, Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, a new law in Iowa to prohibit transgender girls from participating in women’s sports, and many more laws currently moving through the legislatures of U.S. states. On the bright side, Republican governors in Utah and Indiana have vetoed bills to ban participation by trans girls in women’s sports.
As we track this trend, at home and around the globe, we’ve been struck by the observations of Rémy Bonny, who both follows the money trail and connects the ideological dots from Putin’s inner circle to the U.S.-based World Congress of Families, as these forces unite to promote anti-LGBTQI laws and anti-democratic movements in dozens of countries.
Marriage Equality
Earlier this month, marriage equality took effect in Chile, with several couples officially tying the knot the first morning they could. Chile joins Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Ecuador, and Costa Rica on the list of Latin American countries with nationwide marriage equality.
A recent Human Rights Watch article addresses the obstacles facing Panamanian same-sex couples from winning their right to marriage equality, while courts in South Korea, Namibia, and (just as we went to press) Bermuda and the Cayman Islands have dealt setbacks to same-sex couples seeking legal recognition.
In Guatemala early last week, Congress passed a “Life and Family Protection Law,” which bans marriage equality, prohibits discussion of sexual diversity in schools, and mandates up to ten years of jail time for women who have abortions. However, later in the week, President Alejandro Giammetti surprisingly threated to veto the bill, and as of this moment, the law’s fate is unclear.
Transgender Rights
Despite the legislative campaigns and political scapegoating in some countries, we have also seen some remarkable victories for transgender and nonbinary people in recent months. In February, Kuwait’s constitutional court overturned a law criminalizing “imitation of the opposite sex” that has been used to persecute transgender people. That same month, a court in Mexico’s Guanajuato state issued a native of the state a new birth certificate with a third gender. In March, Colombia’s constitutional court went further, issuing a ruling making the country the first in Latin America to offer a nonbinary gender marker across the nation. Meanwhile, the Indian government has rolled out a plan to offer education, economic empowerment, and health insurance that covers gender-affirming surgeries.
Also of note: the increasing number of elected transgender politicians in Latin America.
Decriminalization
In a major CEDAW judgment, a United Nations treaty body called on Sri Lanka’s government to repeal its law — Section 365, a law dating back to the era of British colonial rule — that criminalizes adult, consensual same-sex conduct, including between women.
The case was brought under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) by Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, an LGBTQI rights activist who faced harassment and discrimination for her sexual orientation and human rights advocacy on behalf of sexual and gender minorities.
In February, to the disappointment of LGBTQI activists in Singapore, the country’s high court unfortunately refused to follow in India’s footsteps and overturn Section 377A, yet another holdover from British colonialism, which in Singapore criminalizes sex between men. Though Singapore’s government has pledged not to enforce the law, Pink Dot, the country’s leading LGBTQI advocacy group, declared,
“The acknowledgment that Section 377A is unenforceable only in the prosecutorial sense is cold comfort … Section 377A’s real impact lies in how it perpetuates discrimination across every aspect of life: at home, in schools, in the workplace, in our media, and even access to vital services like health care.”
In Senegal, lawmakers in January defeated an attempt to make the country’s already harsh laws against LGBTQI people even more severe.
In an especially egregious assault on free speech, a court in Uzbekistan sentenced blogger Mirazaz Bazarov in January to up to three years in prison for calling for the decriminalization of same-sex relations.
Digital Security
Article 19 has published an in-depth report on how police forces in Egypt, Tunisia, and Lebanon are increasingly using digital tools to identify, entrap, and prosecute LGBTQI people, thus “intensifying anti-queer surveillance.” (Also see coverage of the report in Wired.)
Conversion Therapy
The global movement against so-called “conversion therapy” — the widely debunked, pseudo-scientific practice of attempting to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity — continues to grow. This includes landmark victories in Canada, France, New Zealand, Israel, and the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Parenting
In Germany, lesbian mothers have launched a campaign to reform the civil code to grant legal recognition of both parents, not just the biological mother. Next door, the government of the Czech Republic is failing to adopt EU standards when it comes to recognizing same-sex couples’ adoption rights.
Zooming out to the global level, Human Rights Watch offers a survey of how citizenship laws often fail to protect LGBTQI families and calls for reforming such laws to protect same-sex couples and their children, along with other diverse family structures.
Brittney Griner
While other aspects of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine captivate the world’s attention, we (and Congressional and State Department officials) are paying close attention to the case of WNBA superstar Brittney Griner, who was arrested and detained by Russian authorities weeks before the invasion for alleged possession of a vape pen. As this newsletter went to press, a Russian court extended Griner’s detention until May 19, and U.S. consular officials were finally able to visit Griner and confirm that she is “doing as well as can be expected.”
On one hand, Will Leitch asks why the case of Brittney Griner—the 6’9” Black, gender-bending lesbian star of the Phoenix Mercury and UMMC Ekaterinburg—isn’t the biggest sports story in the country; on the other hand, CGE understands the concerns about not wanting to inadvertently help make her a political pawn or negotiating point in the current conflict. Leitch also rightly points out the culpability of the WNBA for offering low salaries that drive American female sports stars to play in Russia for much higher pay. Dave Zirin, meanwhile, gives voice to the “Free Brittney!” movement.
China and the Beijing Winter Olympics
While the world noted China’s selection of a Uyghur athlete to light the cauldron and distract the world’s attention from its genocide in Xinjiang during the Winter Games, its pre-Olympics crackdown also included targeting LGBTQI content. Due to the just-passed Personal Information Protection Law, Grindr’s owners pulled the app from Apple’s China store.
On a brighter note, the 36 out LGBTQI athletes in Beijing won 4 gold medals, 2 silver, and 3 bronze; put another way, Team LGBTQI would have ranked 12th in the country medal standings, just ahead of Italy and Japan, using the traditional gold-silver-bronze-total system of medal count. These victories included gold medals to the Canadian women’s hockey team — “the gayest Winter Olympic team of all time,” according to NBC — and to Dutch speedskater Ireen Wüst, the first individual athlete, of any gender, to win gold at 5 different Olympics, Winter or Summer. In Beijing, Wüst announced her plans to retire soon and marry her long-time girlfriend.
Global Equality Today 