Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) did not discuss LGBTQ rights abroad Wednesday during his confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of state.
The Florida Republican said in his opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that President-elect Donald Trump “returns to office with an undeniable mandate from his constituents.”
“They want a strong America, a strong America that is engaged in the world, but guided by a clear goal of promoting peace abroad and security and prosperity at home,” Rubio said.
“The direction he has set for the implementation of our foreign policy is clear,” he added. “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified by answers to three simple questions: Will it make America safer? Will it make America stronger?”
Trump nominated Rubio a week after Vice President Kamala Harris conceded defeat in the presidential election.
In 2022, Rubio defended Florida’s “Don’t Say I’m Gay” law signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. That same year, Florida Republicans also voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which passed with bipartisan support.
LGBTQ rights will be a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy
President Joe Biden signed a memo in February 2021 committing the United States to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administration’s overall foreign policy. A few months later, he appointed Jessica Stern, former executive director of the global advocacy group Outright International, as the U.S. special envoy for promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad.
Ned Price, the State Department’s first openly gay man, said in a May 2021 interview with the Washington Blade that decriminalizing consensual same-sex sexual relationships means that LGBTQ overseas It is one of the priorities in the government’s efforts to promote the rights of people.
During President Trump’s first administration, he appointed Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany, as his special envoy to lead efforts to encourage countries to decriminalize homosexuality. Activists the Blade previously spoke to questioned whether the effort had produced any concrete results.
In 2022, Stern noted that the Biden-Harris administration also supports marriage equality efforts in countries that activists say are possible through law and the judicial process.
Brittney Griner returned to the United States in December 2022 after Russia released her in exchange for a convicted arms dealer. The lesbian WNBA star was found guilty by a court of illegal drug charges earlier that year after Russian customs officials found an e-cigarette container containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. He was convicted of importation and served a nine-year sentence in a penal colony.
The State Department will begin issuing passports with an “X” gender marker in 2022.
The Biden-Harris administration sanctioned officials at a 2023 press conference by Ghana’s then-president following the signing of Uganda’s anti-gay law, and gave sub-Saharan African countries duty-free trade in U.S.-produced Harris products. The country was excluded from the program that allows Nana Akufo-Addo spoke about LGBTQ rights in Accra, Ghana’s capital.
Chantal Wong, director of the Asian Development Bank in the United States, will become the first openly lesbian female ambassador in 2022. Other gay U.S. ambassadors Biden has nominated include David Pressman, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Hungary, and Scott Miller, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
In 2021, outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken appointed former U.S. Ambassador to Malta Gina Abercrombie Winstanley as the State Department’s first chief diversity and inclusion officer.
Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the State Department’s DEI efforts during Rubio’s confirmation hearing.
“The Biden administration often undermines effective foreign policy by inserting ideological and political requirements into the framework of personnel decisions and policy enforcement,” Risch said.
“Rather than hiring and promoting based on ability and effectiveness, the department is seeking new diversity, equity and ”, he added. “Loyalty to progressive politics has become the criterion for success. As we look around the United States, that view is rapidly fading, even among large progressive coalitions.”
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
