Hillary Clton had the chance to make gay rights history. She refed. - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• HILLARY CLTON CLAR 'GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS'
• CLTON TO UNED NATNS: "GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS"
• CLTON: ‘GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS’
• HILLARY CLTON ON GAY RIGHTS ABROAD: SECRETARY OF STATE DELIVERS HISTORIC LGBT SPEECH IN GENEVA (VIDEO, FULL TEXT)
• GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, CLTON TELLS DIPLOMATS
• ‘GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ARE GAY RIGHTS’: HILLARY CLTON
• CLTON, OBAMA PROMOTE GAY RIGHTS AS HUMAN RIGHTS AROUND THE WORLD
• THE LTLE-KNOWN ORIG OF 'GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS''
• HILLARY CLTON'S GAY-MARRIAGE PROBLEM
• OPN CLTON’S GENEVA ACRD: ‘GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS’
• HILLARY CLTON’S GLOBAL LEGACY ON GAY RIGHTS
• WATCH HILLARY CLTON'S SPEECH DECLARG 'GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS'
• HILLARY CLTON’S GAY RIGHTS EVOLUTN
• HILLARY CLTON HAD THE CHANCE TO MAKE GAY RIGHTS HISTORY. SHE REFED.

HILLARY CLTON CLAR 'GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS'

Media ptn, Hillary Clton: "Beg gay is not a wtern ventn, is a human realy"The US has publicly clared will fight discrimatn agast gays and lbians abroad by g foreign aid and diplomacy to enurage reform. Her dience clud reprentativ om untri where homosexualy is a crimal ambassadors shed out of the room as soon as Mrs Clton fished speakg, the Associated Prs news agency October, UK Prime Mister David Cameron's suggtn that aid uld be cut to untri that did not regnise gay rights was nmned by several Ain untri where homosexual acts are banned, cludg Ghana, Uganda and week Nigeria beme the latt Ain untry attemptg to tighten homosexualy laws, wh the Senate passg a bill banng same-sex marriag. 'Human realy'The announcement, scribed by the Whe Hoe as the "first US ernment strategy to bat human rights ab agast gays and lbians abroad", is also beg seen as part of the Obama admistratn's outreach to gays and lbians ahead of the 2012 official memorandum do not outle nsequenc for untri wh poor rerds on gay rights.

CLTON TO UNED NATNS: "GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS"

"Corrponnts say the new policy uld pose awkward qutns for US officials formulatg policy towards some regular alli and regnal 2011, the state partment's annual human rights report ced ab agast gay people Sdi Arabia, an ally of the US that bans homosexualy outright. Afghanistan also prohibs homosexual activy, and the same report found that thori "sporadilly" enforced the the US, Republin printial ndidat cricised the admistratn's cisn, wh Texas Governor Rick Perry sayg a statement that "promotg special rights for gays foreign untri is not Ameri's terts and not worth a dime of taxpayers' money". Earlier this year Print Barack Obama signed to law a bill repealg the "don't ask don't tell" law and allowg homosexuals to serve openly the US on this storyRelated Inter LksThe BBC is not rponsible for the ntent of external s.

The fight for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) human rights took not one but two cril steps forward this week wh Print Obama’s release of a Printial Directive on LGBT rights followed closely by Secretary of State Hillary Clton’s ternatnal human rights day speech at the Uned Natns Geneva, Swzerland. From the so-lled rrective rape of lbians to proposed legislatn to stute the ath penalty for homosexualy, LGBT people around the world face the daily threat of vlence simply for who they are.

CLTON: ‘GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS’

From people like Jean-Cl Mbe, jailed Cameroon for 3 years on spicn of homosexualy, to the LGBT muny of Uganda, who fear the passage of a dranian new anti-gay law, the actns by the Obama Admistratn uld make all the difference. Jt as I was very proud to say the obv more than 15 years ago Beijg 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. I am talkg about gay, lbian, bisexual, and transgenr people, human begs born ee and given btowed equaly and digny, who have a right to claim that, which is now one of the remag human rights challeng of our time.

It is a vlatn of human rights when lbian or transgenred women are subjected to so-lled rrective rape, or forcibly subjected to hormone treatments, or when people are murred after public lls for vlence toward gays, or when they are forced to flee their natns and seek asylum other lands to save their liv. And is a vlatn of human rights when life-savg re is whheld om people bee they are gay, or equal accs to jtice is nied to people bee they are gay, or public spac are out of bounds to people bee they are gay. But fact, all untri, there are sts to not protectg the rights, both gay and straight liv lost to disease and vlence, and the silencg of voic and views that would strengthen muni, ias never pursued by entreprenrs who happen to be gay.

HILLARY CLTON ON GAY RIGHTS ABROAD: SECRETARY OF STATE DELIVERS HISTORIC LGBT SPEECH IN GENEVA (VIDEO, FULL TEXT)

To the lears of those untri where people are jailed, beaten, or executed for beg gay, I ask you to nsir this: Learship, by fn, means beg out ont of your people when is lled for.

Many people, cludg myself, have experienced a epeng of our own nvictns on this topic over the years, as we have voted more thought to , engaged dialogu and bat, and tablished personal and profsnal relatnships wh people who are gay. To highlight one example, the Delhi High Court crimalized homosexualy India two years ago, wrg, and I quote, “If there is one te that n be said to be an unrlyg theme of the Indian nstutn, is clivens.

GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, CLTON TELLS DIPLOMATS

On the ternatnal stage, however, and keepg wh the tle of her memoir, Hard Choic, Clton boldly asserted Geneva 2011: "Gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights. But there are others who clare that homosexualy is an afont to civilizatn, that children mt be protected om s perceived rptive force and that homosexualy should be a punishable, crimal offense.

In Rsia, Print Vladmir Put passed the anti-gay propaganda law a year ago this month, makg a crime to publicly support gay rights or acknowledge same-sex relatnships to a mor. In Uganda, Print Yoweri Mevi passed the far worse Anti-Homosexualy Act Febary of this year, makg homosexualy such an egreg crime (mandg life imprisonment some s) that anyone found "aidg and abettg" a homosexual (as rentg them an apartment), knowgly performg a same-sex marriage or not reportg a gay person to the thori is mtg a crime as well. So I e here before you wh rpect, unrstandg, and though progrs on this ont is not easy, we nnot lay that spir, I want to talk about the difficult and important issu we mt addrs together to reach a global nsens that regniz the human rights of LGBT cizens have suggted that gay rights and human rights are separate and distct; but, fact, they are one and the same.

Secretary of State Hillary Clton challenged natns around the world Tuday to regnize that “gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights, ” buildg on an orr by Print Barack Obama directg all U.

‘GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS, AND HUMAN RIGHTS ARE GAY RIGHTS’: HILLARY CLTON

In an impassned fense of such rights, Clton lled the rights of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr people “universal” and cricized natns that crimalize gay behavr or tolerate abe of gay, bisexual or transgenred people. Foreign aid to promote rights for gays and lbians abroad, cludg batg attempts by foreign ernments to crimalize homosexualy and makg treatment of gays a factor awardg foreign aid. Human Rights Council, before an dience that clud diplomats om Arab, Ain and other untri wh poor rerds on gay rights, Clton said relig beliefs and cultural practic are no exce for discrimatg or toleratg vlence agast gay people.

CLTON, OBAMA PROMOTE GAY RIGHTS AS HUMAN RIGHTS AROUND THE WORLD

” She lled laws discrimatg agast gays or toleratg abe agast them a vlatn of human rights and rejected the notn poed by some natns that “homosexualy is a Wtern phenomenon and therefore people om outsi the Wt have grounds to reject . In June the body passed a measure supportg equal rights for all, regardls of sexual orientatn, and March adopted a statement, supported by 85 untri, on gay rights lled “Endg Vlence Based on Sexual Orientatn and Genr Inty. Obama repealed the ary’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy allowg gays to serve openly the ary and, at Clton’s urgg, extend medil benefs to the same-sex partners of feral employe early his term.

Ernment agenci workg abroad to e foreign aid to assist gays and lbians who are facg human rights vlatns and improve protectns for gay and lbian refuge and asylum seekers. “Today’s actns by Print Obama make clear that the Uned Stat will not turn a bld eye when ernments m or allow ab to the human rights of LGBT people, ” said Joe Solmone, print of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocy anizatn. Standg the Uned Natns' Palais s Natns Geneva, she boldly proclaimed, "Gay rights are human rights, " layg out for the first time the Uned Stat' strong mment to lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr rights as a part of all diplomatic and velopment efforts.

THE LTLE-KNOWN ORIG OF 'GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS''

She also signaled to that her claratn that "gay rights are human rights" were more than jt a rhetoril play on her 1995 women's rights speech Beijg by announcg a historic multiln-dollar mment through the State Department's Global Equaly Fund to back up her words wh the full force of the U.

Jt as I was very proud to say the obv more than 15 years ago Beijg 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. She lled on lears of natns wh homophobic laws to change, and on dividuals to addrs their bias and stand up for fundamental rights, and pledged to the LGBT muny worldwi that they had an ally the Uned Stat of Ameri. Diplomatic engagement to promote and protect LGBT rights at home and abroad, the words "Gay rights are human rights" appear on signs and are chanted at Pri march om India to the Czech Republic to here the Uned Stat.

As secretary of state, Hillary advanced LGBT rights abroad and enforced stronger anti-discrimatn regulatns wh the State Department, clarg on the global stage that “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights. * The d tensn stemmed om persistent qutng as Clton obfted on an issue that uld damage her chanc a 2016 primary but is relatively unlikely to hurt her a ntt agast a Republin, given that her aln is so much stronger on gay rights than the opposn.

HILLARY CLTON'S GAY-MARRIAGE PROBLEM

Would the subset of Democrats who thought 2008 opposn to gay marriage should prevent a man om beg CEO 2013 really support the 2015 printial mpaign of a woman who openly opposed gay marriage until last year? There is also rentment om gays who feel that the Cltons wronged them the Sullivan's perspective is stctive:She was the send most powerful person an admistratn a cril era for gay rights. Clton also left gay service-members the lurch, doublg the rate of their discharg om the ary, and signed DOMA, the high watermark of anti-gay legislatn Amerin history.

OPN CLTON’S GENEVA ACRD: ‘GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS’

I was edor of TNR for five years of the Cltons, aggrsively wrg and publishg articl favor of marriage equaly and ary service, and saw the Cltons’ irratn wh and hostily to gay activists up close.

Fally, there is wispread amnia among Democrats more broadly, who reflexively assume that Hillary Clton has of urse supported gay marriage her heart of hearts for years. In liberal circl, now seems impossible to have red eply about human rights, to have red about gay rights, and to have objected to gay marriage, even though that was the exact posn of almost all liberals very recently.

Those who only joed the ph for gay marriage 2013 after spendg years fendg DOMA were, que obvly, "ls mted" to gay equaly than those who spent years or s urgg marriage equaly.

HILLARY CLTON’S GLOBAL LEGACY ON GAY RIGHTS

GROSS: You know, I'm sayg, I'm sorry, I jt want to clarify what I was sayg, I was sayg that you maybe really believed this all along, you know, believed gay marriage all along, but felt for polil reasons Ameri wasn't ready yet and you uldn't say . This was an credibly new and important ia that people on the ont l of the gay rights movement began to talk about and slowly but surely nvced others of the rightns of that posn. Over the urse of 30 mut, Clton livered a blunt yet spirg speech that took on all the myths and nards about homosexualy and lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenred (LGBT) people.

WATCH HILLARY CLTON'S SPEECH DECLARG 'GAY RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS'

Her addrs earned her a standg ovatn the Palais s Natns and will enar her and the Obama admistratn to gay people around the outlg the history of the Universal Declaratn of Human Rights and how they apply to all people seekg digny and rpect of who they are, Clton clared, “[G]ay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights. She lled for “hont discsn” about the beliefs that “all gay people are pedophil, that homosexualy is a disease that n be ught or cured, or that gays rec others to bee gay. As Hillary Clton mak a whirlwd round of appearanc her last days as secretary of state, one groundbreakg aspect of her work serv a moment the spotlight: In a bold parture wh tradn, Clton ma the promotn of equaly for gay people a re value of U.

That, however, is not how Clton explaed 14 months ago, when she stood before the Human Rights Council Geneva, ont of an dience filled wh reprentativ om Arab and Ain untri, om plac where homosexualy is a crime, even one punishable by ath, and clared that gay rights and human rights “are one and the same.

” But by proclaimg, whout veat or qualifitn, the Amerin stance on the issue, she sent a signal to the rt of the world that, while equaly for gay people is far om reached, the rightns of the goal is beyond bate, much like is wh equal rights for women or for racial mori. Clton also noted that “beg gay is not a Wtern ventn; is a human realy, ” and noted natns that have enacted protectns for their gay cizens, cludg South Ai, Colombia and Argenta.

HILLARY CLTON’S GAY RIGHTS EVOLUTN

It was a rebe to that tragiic moment 2007, when Iranian Print Mahmoud Ahmadejad told an dience New York, “In Iran, we do not have homosexuals like you do your untry, ” promptg an explosn of lghter om the crowd. 's human rights group Geneva, Clton tackled many of the mon stereotyp leveled at gay people and lled on other natns to elimate laws that crimalize or margalize homosexuals. Saturday is the anniversary of the passage of the Universal Declaratn on Human Rights, one of the te landmark achievements of the Uned Natns, which provid the opportuny for Clton to challenge other ernments to fend gay, lbian, bisexual, and transgenr people.

She was quick to adm that her own untry do not have the bt rerd on the matters — is worth notg that her speech quiet potedly did not mentn gay marriage — but announced new iativ by the Obama admistratn to bat discrimatn around the world, cludg a "Global Equaly Fund" that will support human rights groups that protect gay people. “You lerally brought tears to my ey when you said gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights, ” said a stylish man whe jeans who greeted the former first lady wh his partner ’s a sentiment often exprsed as gay voters mull what Mrs. Clton so long to get on ’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 measure Print Clton signed to law that barred feral regnn of same-sex marriag, are wily viewed as among the most signifint setbacks the gay rights movement has enuntered.

While gay activists said there was still much work to be done on makg same-sex marriage legal all 50 stat, safeguardg agast workplace discrimatn and advancg transgenr issu, they were hopeful that by 2016 both parti’ nome would accept, if not wholeheartedly endorse, same-sex marriage. Next year, the Supreme Court is expected to ci the nstutnaly of the same-sex marriage bans that exist 31 year 1996 “is ancient history, ” said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic means Democrats n no longer rely on the built- support of gay voters.

HILLARY CLTON HAD THE CHANCE TO MAKE GAY RIGHTS HISTORY. SHE REFED.

Freedom to Marry, a nonpartisan group, is workg to rec young Republins who support same-sex marriage to bee legat and help “get anti-gay language out of the platform 2016, ” said Evan Wolfson, s print. Muny is, some rpects, very fivg, ” said Sarah Kate Ellis, print of Glaad, a nonprof anizatn (formerly known as the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn) that do not endorse ndidat. Clton believed the 1990s, most activists terviewed said she had emerged as a forceful advote at the State Department, visg polici to help gays and lbians abroad and the Foreign Service.

Durg her first n for print 2008, Hillary Clton had an opportuny to bee an undisputed lear the gay rights she prepared for a fom on the gay-oriented Logo work, she reached out to her iend Hilary Rosen, a polil nsultant who is a lbian. Clton and her hband, Bill, had stood out as beg among the first to actively urt the gay muny as an tert group and donor base — and yet they were unwillg to stand wh the muny on one of s biggt civil rights issu.