Op-ed: Gay Rights Finally Are Human Rights — Here and Abroad

As coverage of Russia’s antigay policies explodes across the Internet, it may seem that President Vladimir Putin and his fervor for the so-called homosexual propaganda law is the best thing that ever happened to America’s gay rights involvement abroad. Having Putin — a ruler many Americans still view with Cold War suspicion — become the poster boy for antiquated views on LGBT people has provided the perfect villain for reframing the debate in the heart of America.

But in part, Russia’s deplorable missteps simply arrived at a time when American politics had finally caught up to our stated diplomacy, allowing U.S. politicians to stand on firmer moral ground abroad.

When the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals were first unequivocally declared a U.S. foreign policy issue, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood before a packed room of more than 500 State Department employees at Foggy Bottom in June of 2010.

“Just as I was very proud to say the obvious more than 15 years ago in Beijing,” she said, channeling another famous speech, “that human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights — well, let me say today that human rights are gay rights, and gay rights are human rights, once and for all.”

At the time, the nation’s military was still systematically discriminating against its own members, she and President Obama had yet to declare their support for marriage equality, and the Supreme Court was a few years away from gutting the heart of the objectionable Defense of Marriage Act.

While gay news outlets swooned over the secretary’s statement, mainstream media — and perhaps America — seemed unpersuaded. Though Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill had garnered national attention when it came to light in the fall of 2009, the U.S. government didn’t yet seem to have the moral authority to claim a foreign policy initiative that was still dubious at home.

It wasn’t until a year and a half later, when Clinton delivered a 30-minute speech on the matter at the United Nations in Geneva, that the revelatory concept grabbed mainstream headlines.

“I come here before you with respect, understanding, and humility,” she told a room rife with divergent cultures before dispelling myth after myth about gay and transgender individuals. “Like being a woman, like being a racial, religious, tribal, or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human. And that is why gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights,” Clinton affirmed again in December of 2011.

By that time, America was beginning to find its footing on the issue. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” had been abolished, and the Department of Justice had stopped defending DOMA — signaling the all but certain demise of the baseless law.

Today, less than two years after Clinton’s groundbreaking speech, U.S. officials are finally able to apply the moral force of progress here at home to their diplomacy abroad. In London several weeks ago, Secretary of State John Kerry called equality “one of our most important exports” while announcing that the State Department would begin treating the visas of same-sex spouses the same as those of heterosexual spouses.

And President Obama has gotten particularly bullish on the issue — actually employing LGBT human rights as a diplomatic tool with enemies and friends alike.

When the president waded into the issue of Russia’s antigay laws at a press conference earlier this month, it wasn’t because he was queried about the subject directly.

“Will there be any additional punitive measures taken against Russia for granting asylum to Edward Snowden?” a reporter asked, referring to potential foreign policy fallout stemming from Snowden’s disclosure of U.S. surveillance programs.

(2013-08-27/advocate)