State Department
Blinken, Russian counterpart speak about Brittney Griner
Call took place after public acknowledgment of deal to secure U.S. citizens release
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday spoke with his Russian counterpart about efforts to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan.
The Associated PressĀ reportedĀ Blinken urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to accept a deal to obtain the release of Griner and Whelan, an American citizen who is serving a 16-year prison sentence after his conviction for spying. American officials have reportedly expressed a willingness to release Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S., as part of a prisoner swap.
Blinken, according to the AP, described the call with Lavrov as a “frank and direct conversation.”
“I urged Foreign Minister Lavrov to move forward with that proposal,” said Blinken. “I can’t give you an assessment of whether that is any more or less likely.”
Officials at Moscowās Sheremetyevo Airport in February detained Griner ā a Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist who is a lesbian and married to her wife, Cherelle Griner, ā after customs inspectors allegedly found hashish oil in her luggage. The State Department has determined that Russia āwrongfully detainedā her.
Brittney Griner’s trial began in Moscow on July 1.
It continues to take place, even though she had pleaded guilty to charges that she smuggled drugs in Russia. Brittney Griner faces up to 10 years in prison if she is convicted.
Friday’s call took place two days after Blinken for the first time publicly acknowledged the U.S. has offered Russia a deal to secure the release of Brittney Griner and Whelan.
āWe are determined to bring her home along with Paul (Whelan) and for that matter, any and every American who is being unjustly detained anywhere in the world,ā said Blinken on June 15 during a roundtable with LGBTQ and intersex journalists in which the Washington Blade participated. āItās something that I am personally focused on, and I want to leave it at that because it is obviously an ongoing issue. But just know that this is a matter of intense focus for us.ā
State Department
State Department releases annual human rights report
Antony Blinken reiterates criticism of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday once again reiterated his criticism of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act upon release of the State Department’s annual human rights report.
“This yearās report also captures human rights abuses against members of vulnerable communities,” he told reporters. “In Afghanistan, the Taliban have limited work opportunities for women, shuttered institutions found educating girls, and increasing floggings for women and men accused of, quote, ‘immoral behavior,’ end quote. Uganda passed a draconian and discriminatory Anti-Homosexuality Act, threatening LGBTQI+ individuals with life imprisonment, even death, simply for being with the person they loved.”
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni last May signed the law, which contains a death penalty provision for āaggravated homosexuality.ā
The U.S. subsequently imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. The World Bank Group also announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda.
Uganda’s Constitutional Court earlier this month refused to “nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act in its totality.” More than a dozen Ugandan LGBTQ activists have appealed the ruling.
Clare Byarugaba of Chapter Four Uganda, a Ugandan LGBTQ rights group, on MondayĀ met with National Security Council Chief-of-Staff Curtis Ried.Ā Jay Gilliam, the senior LGBTQI+ coordinator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, in FebruaryĀ traveled to UgandaĀ and met with LGBTQ activists who discussed the Anti-Homosexuality Act’s impact.Ā
“LGBTQI+ activists reported police arrested numerous individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity and subjected many to forced anal exams, a medically discredited practice with no evidentiary value that was considered a form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and could amount to torture,” reads the human rights report.
The report, among other things, also notes Ugandan human rights activists “reported numerous instances of state and non-state actor violence and harassment against LGBTQI+ persons and noted authorities did not adequately investigate the cases.”
Report highlights anti-LGBTQ crackdowns in Ghana, Hungary, Russia
Ghanaian lawmakers on Feb. 28 approved the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill. The country’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, has said he will not sign the measure until the Ghanaian Supreme Court rules on whether it is constitutional or not.
The human rights report notes “laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults” and “crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex persons” are among the “significant human rights issues” in Ghana.
The report documents Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor OrbĆ”n and members of his right-wing Fidesz party’s continued rhetoric against “gender ideology.” It also notes Russia’s ongoing crackdown against LGBTQ people that includes reports of “state actors committed violence against LGBTQI+ individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, particularly in Chechnya.”
The report specifically notes Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 24 signed a law that bans “legal gender recognition, medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person, and gender-affirming care.” It also points out Papua New Guinea is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized.
The Cook Islands and Mauritius in decriminalized homosexuality in 2023.
The report notes the Namibia Supreme Court last May ruled the country must recognize same-sex marriages legally performed outside the country. The report also highlights the Indian Supreme Court’s ruling against marriage equality that it issued last October. (It later announced it would consider an appeal of the decision.)
Congress requires the State Department to release a human rights report each year.
The Biden-Harris administration in 2021 released a memorandum that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ+ and intersex rights abroad.
The full report can be read here.
State Department
Russian activist meets with US global LGBTQ, intersex rights envoy
Aleksander Voronov visited the State Department last week
A Russian activist last week met with the special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights at the State Department.
Jessica Stern on March 29 posted to her X account a picture of Aleksandr Voronov of Coming Out, an LGBTQ advocacy group that was previously based in St. Petersburg.
“I was honored to host Coming Out activist Aleksandr Voronov at the State Department,” said Stern. “Russia’s transgender ban and designation of the so-called ‘LGBT movement’ as extremist undermines the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Russians. We stand with all LGBTQI+ persons.”
I was honored to host @comingoutspb activist Aleksandr Voronov at the State Department. Russiaās transgender ban & designation of the so-called āLGBT movementā as extremist undermine the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Russians. We stand with all LGBTQI+ persons.š³ļøāš pic.twitter.com/4GpZGzBwoc
— Special Envoy Jessica Stern (@US_SE_LGBTQI) March 29, 2024
Voronov told the Washington Blade he “gave her an update on the situation with LGBTQ rights in Russia.” Voronov said Stern “was very supportive and unbelievably kind.”
The Kremlin over the last decade has cracked down on LGBTQ rights.
The Russian Supreme Court last November ruled the “international LGBT movement” is an extremist organization and banned it. The Moscow Times on March 31 reported authorities in Orenburg, a city near the country’s border with Kazakhstan that is roughly 900 miles south-southeast of Moscow, arrested a gay bar’s owner and charged him with “extremism.”
Voronov fled Russia and now lives in Lithuania.
“Most of the organizations and public activists, such as me and the organization I lead, were forced to leave the country, but continue working ‘in exile,'” Voronov told the Blade. “Most openly queer-places were closed during last months; but there are still lots of activists, organizations and of course ordinary LGBTQ individuals in Russia who are still there, and will be staying there. And we try to support them as much as we can.”
State Department
Sean Patrick Maloney confirmed as next OECD ambassador
Former N.Y. congressman lost to Mike Lawler in 2022
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed former New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney to become the next American ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Maloney, the former chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee who was also former President Bill Clinton’s White House staff secretary, in 2012 became the first openly gay person elected to Congress from New York. Maloney in 2022 lost to now U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) after the state redrew its congressional districts.
Biden last May nominated Maloney for the ambassadorship. The Senate approved it by a 63-31 vote margin.
“Thank you, all,” said Maloney in a short X post after the vote.
Michael Carpenter, the current U.S. ambassador to the OECD, is gay.