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Blinken speaks at U.N. LGBTI Core Group event

Gathering took place on eve of U.N. General Assembly

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday spoke at an LGBTQ and intersex rights event that took place on the eve of the U.N. General Assembly.

Blinken in his remarks at the LGBTI Core Group, a group of U.N. countries that have pledged to support LGBTQ and intersex rights, noted the meeting took place at “a time when the movement for equality is showing some encouraging momentum.”

He pointed to the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual acts over the summer in St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda. Blinken also noted the Vietnamese Health Ministry’s announcement last month that it no longer considers LGBTQ people to be sick. 

“At the same time, for that progress, which is real and which is worth underscoring, we know that people worldwide continue to experience alarming levels of violence, discrimination, isolation,” said Blinken. “Risks are the highest for people with disabilities, people of color, refugees and LGBTQI+ women. Transgender people are often denied access to legal identity documents that reflect their names and gender markers. Intersex people, including minors, continue to be subjected to unnecessary surgeries without their consent.”

Blinken further stressed that members of the U.N. LGBTI Core Group and countries around the world “have work to do to ensure that LGBTQI+ people have the same rights, the same protections as all other people.”

“Defending these rights is central to the health of our democracies,” he said. “Any system where some groups are treated as ‘less than’ simply because of who they are is fundamentally flawed.”

President Joe Biden in February 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administrationā€™s overall foreign policy. The White House four months later appointed Jessica Stern as its special envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights overseas.

The State Department in April began to issue passports with “X” gender markers. The White House’s efforts in support of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad now includes marriage equality in countries where activists say such a thing is possible through legislation or the judicial process. 

Blinken in his speech noted Biden in June issued a sweeping executive order that, among other things, prohibits the use of federal funds to support so-called conversion therapy. The ceremony, which occurred during the White House’s annual Pride reception, took place against the backdrop of the passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law and efforts in several other states across the country to curtail the rights of transgender students. 

“Standing up for LGBTQI+ people is a top priority for our administration,” said Blinken.

Blinken also referenced the 1969 Stonewall riots.

“Everything weā€™re doing builds on the work of literally generations of advocates who have ā€” and still are ā€” risking so much to put LGBTQI+ people and their rights on the map,” he said. “And I have to say, as I read the history, learn the history, hear of experiences, Iā€™m quite in awe of generations of advocates who have done so much to put us where we are today. The work weā€™re doing is only possible because of the work they did ā€” but not only the work they did, the courage that they showed.” 

“The 1969 protest at the Stonewall Inn marked a turning point in our nationā€™s struggle for LGBTQI+ rights and helped galvanize the global movement,” added Blinken. “This is something that is seared into the memories, seared into the consciousness of so many of us.  And particularly for me as a native New Yorker, itā€™s something that I have seen and been inspired by for many, many years.” 

Blinken further noted “Stonewall is also a stark reminder of all the places worldwide where people are still subject to abuse simply for being themselves.”

State Department spokesperson Ned Price, Icelandic Prime Minister KatrĆ­nĀ JakobsdĆ³ttir; Permanent Brazilian Representative to the U.N. JoĆ£oĀ GenĆ©sioĀ de Almeida Filho, Peruvian Foreign Minister Cesar Landa Arroyo, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt and OutRight Action International Executive Director Maria Sjƶdin are among those who attended the event alongside Stern and Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the independent U.N. expert on LGBTQ and intersex issues.

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State Department

Report: State Department to remove LGBTQ information from annual human rights report

Spokesperson declines to ‘preview’ information ‘at this time’

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(Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)

The State Department has not commented on a report that indicates it plans to remove LGBTQ-specific information from their annual human rights report.

Politico on March 19 reported the Trump-Vance administration “is slashing the State Department’s annual human rights report ā€” cutting sections about the rights of women, the disabled, the LGBTQ+ community, and more.” The Politico article notes it obtained “documents” and spoke with “a current and a former State Department official who were familiar with the plan.”

“We are not previewing the human rights report at this time,” a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Blade on March 21.

Congress requires the State Department to release a human rights report each year. 

The 2023 report specifically noted Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act that contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.” The 2022 report highlighted, among other things, anti-LGBTQ crackdowns in Afghanistan, Russia, and Hungary and so-called conversion therapy.

President Donald Trump since he took office has signed a number of executive orders that have specifically targeted the LGBTQ and intersex community. These include the ā€œDefending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Governmentā€ directive that, among other things, bans the State Department from issuing passports with ā€œXā€ gender markers.

The State Department has eliminated references to transgender travelers from its travel advisories. Germany, Denmark, and Finland have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who are planning to visit the U.S.

A directive that Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued bans embassies and other U.S. diplomatic institutions from flying the Pride flag. (Former President Joe Biden in March 2024 signed a government spending bill with a provision that banned Pride flags from flying over U.S. embassies.)

The U.S. has withdrawn from the U.N. LGBTI Core Group, a group of U.N. member states that have pledged to support LGBTQ and intersex rights, and the Organization of American States’ LGBTI Core Group. The Trump-Vance administration’s decision to suspend most U.S. foreign aid spending has been a “catastrophe” for the global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement.

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State Department

US withdraws from OAS LGBTI Core Group

Decision ‘in line with the president’s recent executive orders’

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The U.S. Embassy in El Salvador in 2023 hung and flew the Progress Pride flag. The U.S. has withdrawn from the Organization of American States' LGBTI Core Group. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy of El Salvador's Facebook page.)

A State Department spokesperson on Tuesday confirmed the U.S. has withdrawn from the Organization of American States’ LGBTI Core Group.

The U.S., along with Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay, co-founded the Core Group in 2016 during that year’s OAS General Assembly that took place in the Dominican Republic.

“We look forward to deepening our collaboration at the OAS on issues impacting LGBTI persons so as to enhance dialogue, cooperation, and the sharing of best practices at regional and multilateral levels, recognizing also the various efforts and developments undertaken by and in member states,” reads a joint statement the countries issued on June 15, 2016. “Furthermore, we encourage and welcome the participation of other interested OAS member states in the membership and activities of the Core Group.”

“We also look forward to collaborating with civil society organizations and other social actors as we seek to further shared goals,” it adds. “Our commitment in these areas is firm and will remain so.”

President Donald Trump since he took office on Jan. 20 has signed a number of executive orders that have specifically targeted the LGBTQ and intersex community. These include the ā€œDefending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Governmentā€ directive that, among other things, bans the State Department from issuing passports with ā€œXā€ gender markers.

A directive that Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued bans embassies and other U.S. diplomatic institutions from flying the Pride flag. (Former President Joe Biden in March 2024Ā signedĀ a government spending bill with a provision that banned Pride flags from flying over U.S. embassies.)

“In line with the presidentā€™s recent executive orders, we have withdrawn from the OAS LGBTI Core Group,” the State Department spokesperson told the Washington Blade.

The U.S. last month withdrew from the U.N. LGBTI Core Group, a group of U.N. member states that have pledged to support LGBTQ and intersex rights.

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State Department

Rubio: 83 percent of USAID contracts have been cancelled

State Department will administer remaining programs

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his confirmation hearing on Jan. 15, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said 83 percent of U.S. Agency for International Development contracts have been cancelled.

“The 5,200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States,” said Rubio on X.

Rubio added “the remaining 18 percent of programs we are keeping (approximately 1,000)” will “now be administered more effectively under the State Department.”

Rubio on Jan. 24Ā directedĀ State Department personnel to stop nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending for 90 days in response toĀ an executive orderĀ that President Donald Trump signed after his inauguration. The Washington Blade has previously reported programs in Kenya and other countries the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funds have been forced to suspend services and even shut down because of a lack of U.S. funding, even though Rubio issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other ā€œlife-saving humanitarian assistanceā€ programs to continue to operate during the freeze.

The Trump-Vance administration also moved to dismantle USAID.

A statement the White House issued on Feb. 3 said the organization ā€œhas been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous ā€” and, in many cases, malicious ā€” pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight.ā€ The statement also contains examples of what it described as “waste and abuse” that included $2 million for “sex changes and ‘LGBT activism'” in Guatemala, $1.5 million to “advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities,” and $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia.”

LGBTQ+ Victory Institute Executive Director Elliot Imse told the Blade last month his organization has lost around $600,000, which is two-thirds of its entire global program budget. Imse said the global LGBTQ rights movement is set to lose more than $50 million because of the suspension of U.S. aid.

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