National
Geithner urged to advocate against LGBT abuses overseas
Bachus, Frank draw attention to committee amendment
Leading lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner drawing attention to a recently approved amendment advocating that foreign governments receiving multilateral development bank funds don’t engage in LGBT persecution.
In a letter dated March 30 and obtained by the Washington Blade, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), chair of the committee, and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who’s gay and ranking Democrat on the panel, ask Geithner to inform U.S. officials at multilateral development institutions — including the World Bank — of the committee’s recently adopted position against funding for governments that allow abuses against LGBT people and religious minorities overseas.
“We urge you to be mindful of the Committee’s views on this matter, and particularly in light of the important authorization requests that Treasury has made this year, we also urge you to relay these views to the executive directors who represent the [United States] at these institutions,” Bachus and Frank write. “We believe this is important not only as a matter of public policy and the advancement of American values, but also politically in terms of our ability to generate the necessary support to enable the [United States] to continue to play a significant and influential role at these institutions.”
Natalie Wyeth, a Treasury Department spokesperson, said the department has received the letter and is reviewing it.
On March 15, the House Financial Services Committee approved by a voice vote the amendment as part of legislation that outlines fiscal year 2012 budget priorities for issues under its jurisdiction, including recommended funds for the Treasury Department and the World Bank.
The amendment urges the Treasury Department to advocate that foreign governments receiving assistance from the multilateral development banks don’t engage in gross violations of human rights, such as the denial of freedom of religion and physical persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Bachus and Frank’s letter make particular note of persecution of LGBT people in Uganda as a reason for passing the amendment.
Legislation that would institute the death penalty for homosexual acts has been pending before the Ugandan parliament, although foreign media has recently reported the measure has been shelved. Additionally, David Kato, an activist who was working against the pending measure, was brutally murdered after a publication in the country identified him as gay.
“In some African countries, we have seen the physical persecution of people who are members of sexual minorities,” Bachus and Frank write. “In Uganda, which was a major beneficiary of the multilateral debt relief initiatives, there is active persecution of people who are members of sexual minorities.”
In addition to advocating against LGBT abuses abroad, the letter also decries persecutions of religious minorities, such as the reported hostility towards Christianity in the Middle East.
“We have seen troubling examples of people being persecuted, imprisoned and threatened with execution, for example, in Pakistan, simply for converting from one religion to another,” Bachus and Frank write. “Often, it is people being punished for converting to Christianity.”
The letter notes the United States isn’t entirely responsible for setting policies at multilateral institutions such as World Bank, but says the U.S. role is important.
“We recognize that the United States does not set the policies at these institutions, but we do have an influential voice, and we believe that it is in our interest to use that voice to support what we view to be fundamental human values, regardless of whether a particular government is fully democratic or not,” Bachus and Frank write.
Mark Bromley, chair of the Council for Global Equality, said the letter and the adoption of the amendment by the committee is “a big deal.”
“The United States has significant leverage and a strong voice in the World Bank and the regional development banks,” Bromley said. “Until now, these development institutions have largely shied away from LGBT issues, even in terms of reaching out and supporting access by marginalized LGBT communities to social development and public health programs.”
Bromley encourage the U.S. executive director of these development banks — especially the U.S. director of the World Bank — to leverage U.S. investments to “ensure equal access for all individuals to the public health services and economic opportunities that Americans are supporting through our annual development contributions.”
Bachus’ signature to the letter is noteworthy because he has an anti-gay voting record in Congress and in recent years has consistently scored a “0” on the Human Rights Campaign’s congressional scorecard. The Alabama lawmaker has voted against hate crimes protection legislation, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director for National Log Cabin Republicans, said the values of protecting human freedoms and individual liberty that espouses are conservative values.
“Further, no member of Congress should ever be be ruled out as a potential ally to the LGBT community,” Cooper said. “Log Cabin Republicans continuously seek to foster friends in development among elected Republican office holders as well as their staff and campaigns.”
Download a copy of the letter here.
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.”
Trone discusses transgender niece
200 turn out for ’Love Fest’ Drag Story Hour at Freddie’s
More than 1 million people attend Madonna concert in Rio
Another successful Taste of Point fundraiser
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Pride journey: Las Vegas
It’s game, set, and mismatch in unfulfilling ‘Challengers’
Brittney Griner considered suicide in Russian prison
