In recognition of Gay Pride’s kick-off today (oh, and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots), Sec. of State Hillary Clinton released this statement, which does not include confirmation about whether she’ll be on any parade floats this year.
Forty years ago this month, the gay rights movement began with the Stonewall riots in New York City, as gays and lesbians demanded an end to the persecution they had long endured. Now, after decades of hard work, the fight has grown into a global movement to achieve a world in which all people live free from violence and fear, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In honor of Gay and Lesbian Pride Month and on behalf of the State Department, I extend our appreciation to the global LGBT community for its courage and determination during the past 40 years, and I offer our support for the significant work that still lies ahead.
At the State Department and throughout the Administration, we are grateful for our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees in Washington and around the world. They and their families make many sacrifices to serve our nation. Their contributions are vital to our efforts to establish stability, prosperity and peace worldwide.
Human rights are at the heart of those efforts. Gays and lesbians in many parts of the world live under constant threat of arrest, violence, even torture. The persecution of gays and lesbians is a violation of human rights and an affront to human decency, and it must end. As Secretary of State, I will advance a comprehensive human rights agenda that includes the elimination of violence and discrimination against people based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Though the road to full equality for LGBT Americans is long, the example set by those fighting for equal rights in the United States gives hope to men and women around the world who yearn for a better future for themselves and their loved ones.
This June, let us recommit ourselves to achieving a world in which all people can live in safety and freedom, no matter who they are or whom they love.
dgz
PLEASE posters, don’t turn this into a Hillary-vs-Obama debate.
InExile
Once again Hillary stands with us and uses her position to help us in any way she can.
Now if we could just get her boss with the program! Hope and Change Anyone?
Cam
Lyndon Johnson…when he signed the civil rights legislation said “This is going to lose the south for the Democrats for Decades”.
Where are the politicians who aren’t afraid to do the RIGHT thing, even if there is some political fallout? As far as I’m concerned, NEITHER Hillary nor Obama has that kind of bravery. This just shows me that the gay community needs to stop waiting for our benevolent masters to hand us crumbs and keep standing up and fighting for our rights as has been going on since the Prop 8 Debacle.
Do I blame Hillary and Obama for not really caring about our rights? I suppose not, it’s rare that anybody breaks that far from their own self interest these days to do something truly selfless.
Namaste85
@dgz: looks like its gonna happen anyway
Rob
Obama should have at least made mention of Stonewall 40. He took time outa his Sunday to express his ‘outrage’ regarding the assassination of Dr. Tiller (not that the president’s statement about that was necessarily outrageous).
Yet, when it comes to folks like us…whadda “Leader of ‘The Free World'” he’s turned out to be!
…and the reason a lotta people are angry with Mr. Obama is that they believed in him [few of us, in contradistinction, expected much of President Bush].
InExile
@Cam: Why do you lump Hillary in with Obama? Hillary has PROVEN SHE CARES about our rights, her boss has not! Commenting on them separately would be more appropriate. My point is this is not the first time Hillary has shown true leadership on gay issues, we are still waiting for her boss.
Landon Bryce
Can we all remember this kind and respectful message comes not just from Clinton herself but from Obama’s Secretary of State? It’s clear part of their strategy is let her carry the GLBT ball for the team a little. But she is doing it as part of his team.
Thanks to both of them for a very appropriate start to pride.
Do we think this is or is not the major LGBT statement from the White House some optimistic folks are expecting?
NICHOLAS
A wonderful message of support from Hillary/the state dept/the President’s administration. Thank you Queerty for posting this – Happy pride month y’all!
Tony
Too late Obamabots. You know Barry “God is in the mix” Douchebage Douchenothingfortehgays Nobama” would never make such a statement. He might offend GOD!
Michael W.
I remember when Queerty made a post a couple months back criticizing Hillary’s silence on those Iraqi gays getting their butts glued shut, among other LGBT issues overseas. Clintonistas like InExile argued that her silence was a product of her boss’ stodgy grip on the administration. He apparently was determined to block his employees from shedding any light on all matters gay. Obama was such a harsh micromanager, according to them, that when Hillary visited Iraq and made no mention of the torture of Iraqi gays, it was because he forbid her from doing so. She was a victim of his control.
Now that Hillary made a few moves in recognition of the existence of gays, suddenly she’s gone rogue. Now the State Department, in a matter of weeks, has transformed into a loose cannon, striking out in defense of us to the chagrin of big bad Obamabigot. No longer is Obama to blame for the actions of the State Department, the credit all belongs to Hillary Clinton.
Is there anybody who loves having their cake and eating it too more than a Clintonista?
yeson8won
Obama owes his victory largely to the African American and Latino base, who tend to oppose the redefinition of marriage to accommodate homosexuals.
Why would he support your fringe cause at the risk of offending the popel who put him in the White House?
yeson8won
@Michael W.: those Iraqi gays getting their butts glued shut,
Sounds like an interesting story – do you have a link or a photo??
InExile
@Michael W.: Maybe you are right? Maybe Obama has crowned Hillary the ambassador to the gay community so he does not have to tarnish his relationships with people like Rick Warren and other religious leaders? Who knows?
dgz
DNFT
please,
DNFT
schlukitz
@yeson8won:
“Sounds like an interesting story – do you have a link or a photo??”
Yeah. Only a perve like you would want to see pictures of that nature.
Bet you also like jerking off to pictures of young, male teenagers dangling from the end of a rope in place like Iraq and Iran too?
You’re a real sickie, dude!
Catherine
@schlukitz: Actually, I think he was just looking for a link to a news article about it. Queerty talked about it here:
http://www.queerty.com/iraqi-gays-face-threat-of-glued-anuses-20090421/
You don’t have jump to the conclusion that he’s a pervert…
Marlena
@InExile: Funny, her and Obama were both against gay marriage during the campaign. Selective memory?
schlukitz
@Catherine:
And you don’t have to jump to the conclusion that we homosexuals are the bad guys either. Get your facts together before commenting, please!
Catherine, have you been paying any attention to the slime this maggot has been slingin against gays on virtually every thread on Queerty…and for several weeks now?
Why are you defending this hateful homophobe POS who obviously has no business being here?
If after reviewing all of his past comments to all of us and you still feel the need take me to task for calling him a pervert, then perhaps you are
1) A shill of his
2) You are Yeson8won posting under a different name or
3) A homophobe just like Yeson8won
in which case, you have no business being on this gay site either.
Reality Knocking
@Tony:
Care (douche) to (douche) eat (douche) your (douche) words (douche), Douche?
Nice vocabulary you have, BTW. Douche!
Reality Knocking
@InExile:
Dude, Hillary isn’t gonna solve your problems any faster than her boss, sorry to burst your “Hillary Hope bubble”…you think she made this statement “against” the administration’s wishes, or went “rogue” with a pro-gay statement? Non-sense.
Hillary and Obama are cut from the same cloth…basically gay supportive politicians who aren’t willing to put their necks on the line for us, without LOTS of support from other Dems, as well as public pressure from the GLBT community. Still better than 99.9999% of republicans, though.
InExile
@Reality Knocking: Hillary is just doing what she does, standing by her promises. Unfortunately Hillary is not in a position to bring equality to our community, Obama is! If Hillary was in a position to get the ball moving for us, I do not think she would be appeasing the religious right and trying to be “all things to all people”.
Cam
@InExile: you said “No. 6 · InExile
@Cam: Why do you lump Hillary in with Obama? Hillary has PROVEN SHE CARES about our rights, her boss has not! ”
______________________________________________________________
She does not support full rights for gays, (Marriage) She was part of the adminstration that signed DOMA into law. It was signed into law even though in the polls they were ahead by 20 points. I’m sorry, but the only way I will believe she really is concerned with my rights would be for her to say that she supports full marriage. At this point in time, even Dick Cheney supports fuller rights for gays than Hillary Clinton. (Which I still can’t really wrap my head around.
hyhybt
@schlukitz: A minor point, but has it really been “for several weeks now?” I thought “yeson8won” turned up, as the name implies, when the ruling came out one week ago today.
tdx3fan
Isn’t this entirely backwards. Yes, I realize there are still some countries (mostly third world or dictatorships) where being gay can get you drug through the streets and shot, but the majority of the super powers in this world now have many more gay rights than the United States does.
The United States should be seeking to follow those countries not “provide a role model” for them. The United States is one of the last non-third world/dictatorship countries to still allow hate speech to radiant from the pulpits every Sunday and to deny basic human rights.
schlukitz
@hyhybt:
I agree with you. It is a minor point.
What should be disturbing, is the fact that he is here at all with his messages of hatred, bigotry, homophobia and discrimination, regardless of when he first came.
Even a week is too long. But, I am sure that Yeson8won will be in contact with you very soon to “set the record straight”
Pun intended.
Catherine
@schlukitz:
Is that so? I apoligize in that case. I don’t often read the comments, and it’s been a while since I’ve been on the site at all.
I did not jump to the conclusion that you were the bad guy though. I figured that he had phrased his question awkwardly and caused some confusion, that’s all.
I am most definitely not homophobic, and I am not YesOn8Won under a different name.
And as it happens, I have every right to be on this site. This is probably one of the bigger reasons I decided to come out as bisexual to my mom, and when my dad comes home, I’ll be telling him too.
I truly am sorry about the miscommunication (which I understand was on my part, not yours), and I’ll be sure to pay more attention to context and who’s saying what in the future.
schlukitz
@Catherine:
And I in turn, apologize for my rather strongly worded rebuttal to my original post about yeson8won.
His bigoted, hateful and homophobic remarks are really getting on the nerves of many of us who do post here regularly. He has proven himself to be an agent provacateur and his surf-by shootings have left him with the smoking gun in his hand each and every time.
I am very pleased to learn that you are not homophobic and that you are not yeson8won posting under a different name. And, as a recently admitted bisexual, you definitely have every right to be on this site, as do all whose hearts and minds are in the right place as yours obviously are.
I too am truly sorry about the miscommunication. Welcome to the Queerty blog. We all look forward to your sharing your ideas and thoughts as well as sharing your coming-out experiences with us.