Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Sorry religious right, the Special US LGBT Envoy is staying at the State Department

Berry
The Family Research Council wanted Special LGBT Envoy Randy Berry gone, but he's staying.

From The Washington Blade:

The Trump administration will allow the position of special U.S. envoy to promote LGBT and intersex rights abroad to remain in place at the State Department. A State Department spokesperson told Foreign Policy on Monday that Randy Berry is continuing “in his role under the current administration.” A State Department spokesperson reiterated this statement to the Washington Blade.

“Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Randy Berry, a career Foreign Service officer, continues in his role under the current administration,” the spokesperson told the Blade.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry in 2015 announced the creation of the position within the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.

 . . .  Monday’s statement comes against the backdrop of concerns over whether President Trump would eliminate the special LGBT envoy position. Advocates have also urged the new administration to continue U.S. efforts to promote LGBT and intersex issues around the world that the Obama administration began.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins asked Trump late last year to remove “activists” from the State Department who promote LGBT and reproductive rights abroad. A spokesperson for the president’s then-transition team told the Blade that any suggestion “that discrimination of any kind will be condoned or tolerated in a Trump administration is simply absurd.”

Don't think for a moment that this decision means the lgbt community shouldn't be wary of the Trump Administration. He still has a vice president and a host of anti-lgbt groups and personalities supporting him.

1 comment:

Glenn Ingersoll said...

I was startled by this news. This, plus the retention of the executive order banning government contractors from discriminating. There has been far more in the way of bad news coming out of Trump's White House, so I'm not ready to celebrate. Do we have Ivanka to thank? Will these moves turn out to be of actual significance?