Tag: United Nations

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Trump Administration Withdraws From UN LGBTQ Rights Group

United Nations (image via Depositphotos)

During his first term in the White House, Trump claimed that decriminalizing homosexuality worldwide was a major goal. At the time, LGBTQ advocates called the initiative a “sham” campaign that didn’t actually do anything. But it gave Team Trump ammunition to claim that the administration wasn’t anti-LGBTQ. But now, in his second term, the United States has withdrawn from the United Nations LGBTI Core Group, a group of more than 40 countries actively supporting the rights of LGBTQ and intersex people globally. Continue reading “Trump Administration Withdraws From UN LGBTQ Rights Group”

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Rest In Peace Roberta Flack + Pedro Pascal Goes Viral + More News

Roberta Flack (image via Depositphotos/s_bukley)

Some news items you might have missed: • Washington Post: Roberta Flack, a classically trained pianist who became one of the most popular performers of the 1970s, died today in Manhattan. She was 88. The cause of death was ALS, sometimes known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The onetime D.C. teacher won back-to-back Grammy Awards for “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song.” Continue reading “Rest In Peace Roberta Flack + Pedro Pascal Goes Viral + More News”

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Ukraine Aims For February Peace Summit At UN

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba - Ukraine hopes for a February peace summit to be held at the United Nations
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (screen capture)
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says his country hopes to have a peace summit by the end of February, which would align with the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading “Ukraine Aims For February Peace Summit At UN”

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LGBTQs Get Two-Sentence Mention In Trump’s UN Address

Donald Trump gives passing mention of LGBTQ rights during his 2019 address of the United Nations

Donald Trump gives passing mention of LGBTQ rights during his 2019 address of the United Nations During his speech before the United Nations today, Donald Trump included a mention of his administration’s previously announced plans to encourage more than 70 countries worldwide to decriminalize homosexuality. “My administration is working with other nations to stop criminalizing of homosexuality,” Trump said in a halting cadence. “And we stand in solidarity with (pause) LGBTQ people who live in countries that punish, jail and execute people based upon sexual orientation.” Gregory T. Angelo, who served as president of the Log Cabin Republicans for six years, quickly tweeted a video of Trump’s inclusion of the initiative.

The global initiative, which is reportedly being led by U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, was announced in February. This is the first time Trump has mentioned the initiative in a public speech. Angelo and his conservative LGBTQ bunch may be fawning over today’s two-sentence mention, but it’s worth noting that Trump is not the first president to mention LGBTQ issues while addressing the United Nations. That would be President Barack Obama. During an address of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2011, President Obama said, “No country should deny people their rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but also no country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere.” Later that same year, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a full 30-minute speech regarding LGBTQ rights before the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. It was there that she famously told the United Nations delegates, “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” While Trump may TALK about standing in ‘solidarity’ with LGBTQ people, GLAAD’s ‘Trump Accountability Project’ just noted his administration’s 125th attack on the LGBTQ community since taking office. Just a few of those attacks are: • Filing an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans • Trump’s misguided ban on transgender military service members • Efforts to use ‘religious freedoms’ as a basis for legalizing LGBTQ discrimination • Announcing plans for a new policy which would allow adoption agencies to deny LGBTQ couples the ability to adopt children based on so-called “religious exemptions” So, let’s not get all cray-cray that the Donald is suddenly our full-throated advocate, ok?

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Nikki Haley Resigns As U.S. Ambassador To United Nations

Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has resigned her position and will leave her post by the end of the year.

Via Reuters:

Sitting beside Trump in the Oval Office, Haley said her 18-month stint at the United Nations had been “an honor of a lifetime” and said she would stay on until the end of the year.

A former governor of South Carolina who is the daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is the highest profile woman in Trump’s Cabinet and is often seen as a possible presidential candidate.

But she said in her resignation letter to Trump she would “surely not be a candidate for any office in 2020” and would support his re-election bid.

She told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday: “No, I am not running for 2020.”

According to Axios‘ Jonathan Swan, who broke the story, several senior administration officials were caught off-guard by the announcement and no one seems to know the real backstory.

Although she denies the rumors, many hypothesize that Haley is stepping away to get ready for a possible challenge to Trump as Republican nominee for president in 2020.

Donald Trump is already floating his daughter Ivanka’s name as a possible replacement at the UN.

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Trump Administration Will No Longer Issue Visas To Same-Sex Partners Of Diplomats

United Nations Plaza (image via Flickr/AC Moraes)

 In reversing a nine-year policy begun by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Trump administration continues to demonstrate hostility to same-sex couples.

Beginning Monday (October 1), the U.S. State Department will require same-sex partners of staff of international organizations based in the U.S. to be married in order to qualify for a proper visa.

The policy change will affect foreign employees of organizations like the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

From the State Department’s website on G-4 visas: “Effective immediately, U.S. Embassies and Consulates will adjudicate visa applications that are based on a same-sex marriage in the same way that we adjudicate applications for opposite gender spouses.”

The State Department issued a statement saying the policy change is meant to “help ensure and promote equal treatment” between straight and gay couples. In order to obtain a G-4 visa, straight couples are required to be married.

The difference for same-sex couples, however, is that in many of their native countries same-sex marriage, or even homosexuality, is illegal.

And, as Fabrice Houdart, a human rights official at the United Nations told NBC News, “The policy seems to presume that same-sex partners should be able to easily visit the United States on a tourist visa where they could get married.

“But for people in many countries, particularly poor and conservative countries like the ones that do not permit same-sex marriage, obtaining a tourist visa to visit the United States is extremely difficult,” he added.

Under the new policy, the partners of United Nations workers, for example, that are not legally married will have 30 days after the new year to either get married or exit the United States.

So, what do these couples do? The choices available to them are abandon their careers here in the U.S. or try to marry and face possible severe penalties back home.

Of the 193 United Nations member states, only a few dozen have recognized same-sex marriage. And then there are countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran which have death penalties for being gay.

Former Ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, called the move “needlessly cruel & bigoted” on Twitter.

And the Human Rights Campaign followed up Powers’ tweet saying the policy change “reflects the hostility of the Trump-Pence administration toward LGBTQ people and our friends and allies.”

“It is hatred, and it is unacceptable,” the HRC added.

(h/t NBC News)

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Updated: UN General Assembly Laughs As Trump Boasts Of His Achievements

UPDATE – After saying he “didn’t expect that reaction” in the moment, Donald Trump later reversed himself saying, “That was meant to get some laughter.”

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Addressing the United Nations General Assembly, Donald Trump boasted that his administration “has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.”

And the folks in the hall laughed.

Watch below.

And remember, there’s always a tweet:

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Breaking: United States Withdraws From UN Human Rights Council

Haley-UN.jpg
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley

This. Is. Insane.

Moments ago, the United States withdrew from the United Nations’ Human Rights Council after no other countries “had the courage to join our fight” to reform the “hypocritical and self-serving” body, said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

“In doing so, I want to make it crystal clear that this step is not a retreat from our human rights commitments,” Haley added.

From The Hill:

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley announced the withdrawal alongside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, following multiple news reports that the move was imminent.

Haley blasted the council as a “protector of human rights abusers and cesspool of political bias” and accused the body of “politicizing and scapegoating countries with positive human rights records.”

The withdrawal, which comes as the 47-member body begins a three-week session in Geneva, had been expected as a result of the Trump administration’s frequent criticism of the group’s treatment of Israel.

Haley repeatedly voted against U.N. measures that were critical of Israel, and she has rebuked the council for what she called a “chronic anti-Israel bias.”

The Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez responded with this statement:

“The United States should be leading the world on human rights, not retreating into isolation and separating young children from their families. Because of our seat at the table, we’ve been able to give voice to the voiceless around the world while fighting for the council’s fair treatment of our allies like Israel. Today, President Trump is sending a signal to the world that we’re too weak to lead and too cowardly to fight for our foundational values.

“Trump’s withdrawal is especially disturbing given his persistent praise for despots and dictators with abysmal human rights records, not to mention his administration’s cruel mistreatment of immigrant families seeking asylum. His blatant disregard for basic human rights will have dire and tragic consequences for marginalized people across the globe for years to come. We must all condemn Trump for his failure to lead, and we should work together to hold him accountable immediately.”

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United Nations Votes 128-9 Condemning US Plan To Recognize Jerusalem As Israel’s Capital

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley

From The New York Times:

The overwhelming majority of the world’s nations delivered a stinging rebuke to the United States on Thursday, denouncing its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ignoring President Trump’s bombastic threats of revenge.

In what amounted to a collective act of defiance toward Washington, ambassadors of the 193-member General Assembly voted 128 to 9, with 35 abstentions, to approve a nonbinding resolution demanding that the United States rescind the Dec. 6 decision on Jerusalem, the contested holy city, which also included a plan to relocate the American Embassy there.

Earlier today, United States Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley issued a direct threat saying the US will consider pulling funding to the world body should the resolution pass.

And in an email to the General Assembly members, Haley wrote, “The President will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us. We will take note of each and every vote on this issue.”