Gay Foreign Policy

An article in the November 4, 2008 issue of The Advocate asks if Obama or McCain will champion gay rights in American foreign policy.

“The U.S. hasn’t been as clear and insistent on LGBT issues as it has on issues like violence against women and human trafficking,” says Michael Guest, the gay former ambassador to Romania who now serves as senior adviser to the Council for Global Equality (formerly the LGBT Foreign Policy Project).

. . . But it’s up to the next president to lead the way. One of the key uses of presidential power is “to show moral leadership,” says Scott Long, head of the LGBT program at Human Rights Watch. “Saying something about [gay rights] would be an incredibly powerful message.”

. . . In fact, Obama was asked a question on the campaign trail this year about granting asylum to gay people from other countries, to which he responded by saying the United States has “both a legal and a moral obligation to protect victims of persecution based on sexual orientation or gender identity.” That opinion is in line with his support for gay rights domestically -- and his pattern of talking about gays and lesbians on the stump.

“The U.S. should start by changing its own policies regarding LGBT people -- only then will it have a legitimate voice with which to urge other countries to do the same,” says Paula Ettelbrick.

Obama, obviously, has a stronger record on LGBT issues, but as I wrote previously, a message is sent to everyone when our leaders refuse to publicly acknowledge that we are fully human.