State Dept: Top Issue for 2010?
Maybe Gay Human Rights?
Maybe Gay Human Rights?
Yesterday I read the Dip Note blog over at the U.S. State Department's web site, and one recent post caught my attention. It was about what issues should be at the top of our international agenda for the new year:
Around the world, American diplomats are engaged in the most critical issues of our day. Today’s international agenda includes challenges and opportunities.
Secretary Clinton said, “[W]ith more states facing common challenges, we have the chance, and a profound responsibility, to exercise American leadership to solve problems in concert with others. That is at the heart of America’s mission in the world today.” [...]
I saw that none of the comments had addressed the plight of gay people and the human rights abuses they suffer around the planet, and quickly wrote up a comment. As expected, the Dip Note's comments are moderated, and I waited to see if the State Department bloggers would post my note. A few hours later, my gay-specific suggestions were posted.
While I'm happy my note will be read by State Department officials, maybe even influence them to take more concrete steps every day on behalf of gay people beyond America's borders, I know it will take the voices of lots of activists to improve U.S. efforts for gays worldwide.
This is where you can play an important role for global gays, all without leaving your desk and computer. Go to the Dip Note blog now and write up a short comment, urging the State Department to make the human rights protections of gays a top priority during 2010, and beyond.
Write about the problems our brothers and sisters face, foreign governments taking positive steps to expand protections for gays, the need for American diplomats and the United Nations to address Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill that calls for the death penalty and other draconian measures, and all the other international gay matters of concern to you. Then wait for the moderator to post your comment.
Let's use this public opportunity to lobby the U.S. State Department, its diplomats and other personnel. It will take only 5-10 minutes to compose and submit a pro-active message to the department, and the potential good of that act could greatly benefit gay people everywhere.
Click here to visit the Dip Note blog.
Michael, Thanks for this link to the DipNote here is my message
ReplyDeleteThe escalating violence against gay,lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people through out the world - murder in Jamaica, death penalty in Uganda, beatings in Moscow - ought to be part of the agenda for the State Department. We need to let these countries know that the world is watching. We can no longer be silent because not only does silence equal death, silence also means complicity.