United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed a reception at the State Department, proclaiming that “human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all.” The reception celebrated “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month,” as was officially proclaimed by President Barack Obama for the month of June, and follows a recent incident at the United Nations (UN) where U.S. representatives made loud demands for immediate action on accrediting a homosexual “rights” group to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Secretary Clinton used her address at the reception as an opportunity to set forth a very explicit agenda of promoting the homosexual “rights” agenda throughout the world. “We are elevating our human rights dialogues with other governments and conducting public diplomacy to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons,” said Clinton. “Our Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor produces an annual Human Rights Report that include a section on how LGBT persons are treated in every country.” Additionally, Clinton noted that, “The Bureau of African Affairs has taken the lead by asking every embassy in Africa to report on the conditions of local LGBT communities. And I’m asking every regional bureau to make this issue a priority.”
Demonstrating just how much of a priority this issue is, Clinton offered a few examples of US diplomats actively promoting homosexual “rights” agenda overseas. “In Albania, a young man named Klodian Cela recently came out on a popular television program called Big Brother. Soon after, our ambassador, John Withers, went on television to publicly express support for this man.”
Earlier this month, at the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Committee hearings where 19 UN Member States review applications from NGOs for accreditation with the UN, the application of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) provoked a fierce debate. After the Egyptian delegate posed questions for the group including concerns that IGLHRC position’s could threaten the rights to religious freedom and expression of individuals, the US delegate attempted to suspend additional review of the group by calling for an immediate vote to accredit the group.
Egypt countered by observing that its questions had not been “answered in a straight way” by the group and asserting its right to have a full review process. Egypt then asked for a procedural “no action” vote to be taken on the US motion for an immediate vote. This procedural vote was carried by a majority of the members of the committee, leaving the US and other Western countries to issue strong condemnations of the committee and even individual members. Despite this outcome, some diplomats privately stated that the US and other Western countries would try to bypass the NGO Committee and call for a vote on the IGLHRC application at the upcoming ECOSOC meeting in July.
Finally, President Obama, in his White House proclamation for Father’s Day this year, did not miss the opportunity to stress that “nurturing families come[s] in many forms” including children being raised by “two fathers.”