National
Lawmakers seek update on State Dept. LGBT policy
Letter inquires on U.S assistance with anti-gay crimes overseas, LGBT dialogue abroad
U.S. House members concerned with LGBT rights and foreign affairs last week called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to provide an update on pro-LGBT policy changes underway at the State Department.
In a letter dated June 24, members of the LGBT Equality Caucus seek an update on several topics, including U.S. assistance with the investigations of anti-gay crimes overseas; the extent to which the State Department’s regional bureaus are focusing on LGBT issues; and what the State Department is doing to prepare Foreign Service officers for dialogue on LGBT issues.
The 45 names on the letter are noteworthy because two signers are also leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee: Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the Republican chair of the panel, and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the panel’s ranking Democrat. The State Department didn’t respond to the letter in time for this posting upon immediate request from the Washington Blade.
In the letter, lawmakers make particular note of anti-gay activity in Uganda and Honduras. With respect to Uganda, the letter expresses concern over the murder earlier this year of David Kato, an activist who worked against pending legislation in the country that would institute the death penalty for homosexual acts. Kato was brutally beaten to death after a publication in Uganda identified him as gay.
The letter also expresses concern over “recent murders of LGBT activists” in Honduras. Lawmakers write the Obama administration has issued strong statements against anti-gay violence in both countries, but want more action.
“We commend you for your ongoing efforts to push for effective investigation and prosecutions in those cases,” the letter states. “In that context, we would appreciate more detail on what assistance, if any, the United States, is providing to the governments of Uganda and Honduras in those investigations.”
On Monday, Clinton addressed during her Pride speech the extent to which Foreign Service officers in Honduras encouraged action after investigations into 30 anti-LGBT crimes in the past year appeared to be heading nowhere.
“Then our embassy team got involved,” Clinton said. “They publicly called on the Honduran government to solve the murders, bring the perpetrators to justice, do more to protect all Hondurans from harm. Soon after, the government announced it was creating a task force to investigate and prevent hate crimes. And with the help of a United States prosecutor and detective, which our embassy arranged to be made available to assist in this effort, we are making progress.”
For other issues, lawmakers base much of their requests on the speech Clinton gave last year for Pride in which she said the State Department was implementing several policy changes to benefit the LGBT community abroad. Clinton’s speech was renowned for her ad-libbed line, “human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights,” which has been echoed in other foreign policy statements on LGBT issues from the Obama administration.
The letter recalls Clinton said during her speech last year she has asked the State Department’s regional bureaus to enhance the reporting on the condition of LGBT communities abroad; has elevated the dialogue with which Foreign Service officers discuss LGBT issues overseas; and has implemented changes to grant LGBT people asylum in the United States. Lawmakers seek updates on each of these areas.
For example, on helping LGBT refugees, lawmakers say they would “appreciate more information on the progress made by the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration to achieve this goal, as well as on resettlement procedures for LGBT refugees who face imminent danger.”
The letter also asserts that Clinton specified in previous correspondence with Congress that the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor has set up a task force to enhance interdepartmental and interagency coordination of LGBT issues overseas. Lawmakers seek an update on this process and “what efforts have been made to integrate these issues within the strategic planning process at the State Department and at the interagency level.”
Mark Bromley, chair of the Council for Global Equality, said Ros-Lehtinen’s signature on the letter is significant because she has a powerful voice in foreign affairs as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and because her name makes the missive a bipartisan request.
“It’s a clear signal that support for the fundamental human rights of LGBT communities should not be a partisan issue,” Bromley said.
Bromley added that Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the only out lesbian in Congress and chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus, deserves special credit because she worked to organize the letter in a bipartisan way.
NOTE: This posting has been updated.
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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