A Day of History and Hope
As we celebrate the inauguration today, “a day of history and hope,” in a “winter of peril and significant possibilities,” in the words of President Biden’s inaugural address, we join LGBTI activists from around the world in congratulating President Biden and Vice President Harris. The Council for Global Equality stands ready to work with their administration to center human rights, including the rights of LGBTI individuals, in U.S. foreign policy.
We were heartened by President Biden’s call for racial justice to confront “structural racism and domestic terrorism.” And we were deeply moved by the President’s promise of healing a broken land by reengaging the world.
The Biden-Harris administration faces an array of obstacles that include an ongoing pandemic, sharp divisions along political, racial, ethnic, and economic lines, and deep erosion in our country’s trust and image abroad. These domestic and global obstacles are linked — but so are the opportunities that unprecedented public support for racial justice, significant police reform, and economic fairness offer our country. A Biden Presidency can unite the country by renewing our commitment to inclusive human and civil rights values. And by aligning our domestic and foreign policies around those values, the President can both restore trust in American principles and lay the basis for a more positive U.S. partnership with other countries in tackling global problems, including those impacting human rights.
The Council asks that the foreign policy-related options being framed for the President affirm our country’s respect for, and attachment to, LGBTI- and minority-inclusive human rights. We urge that human rights be approached through a “whole of government” lens rather than agency-by-agency silos. We insist that those chosen to lead these policies represent America’s commitment to fairness and equality, in both character and characteristics. And we urge the Biden Administration to recommit to strengthening coalitions of LGBTI-supportive governments engaged in the work of international organizations.
With these goals in mind, we offer the following policy blueprint for Centering the Rights of LGBTI Individuals in U.S. Foreign Policy: A Pathway to Effective Global Leadership. We look forward to working with the Biden Administration and our colleagues around the world to implement this blueprint.
Special thank you to Alessandra Ramos, Amir Ashour, Amritananda Chakravorty, Glenroy Murray, Julius Kaggwa, Nicole Santamaria, Terek Zeidan, and Xeenarh Mohammed for contributing to this reflection. Your work is changing the world.