Biden Makes LGBTQI+ a Foreign Policy Priority…As Afghanistan Crumbles

Following the lead of former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, earlier this year President Biden stated that the United States must, in his words, “repair our moral leadership…You know, we’ll ensure diplomacy and foreign assistance are working to promote the rights of those individuals, included by combating criminalization and protecting LGBTQ refugees and asylum-seekers.”  He then published a remarkable memo with a subject line that read: “Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons Around the World.” In the memo he directs our foreign policy establishment to promote this distorted view of morality by applying sanctions against any nations that don’t agree. Here’s an excerpt:

“I am directing all agencies abroad to ensure tha United States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons…agencies engaged abroad are directed to strengthen existing efforts to combat the criminalization by foreign governments of LGBTQI+ status or conduct and expand efforts to combat discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, and intolerance on the basis of LGBTQI+ status or conduct.”

The State Department followed up with a clarifying statement:

“Today, President Biden signed a Presidential Memorandum directing all U.S. government departments and agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persona around the world.

The struggle to end violence, discrimination, criminalization, and stigma against LGBTQI+ persons is a global challenge that remains central to our commitment to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms for all individuals. In the Biden-Harris administration, the United States will lead by the power of our example and pursue a policy to end violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics. Today’s action by President Biden demonstrates the U.S. governments’s firm commitment to advance this goal.

Under President Biden’s leadership, the United Staes will work with like-minded governments and strengthen civil society advocacy to fully support and advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons. 

…and so, this effort has become a key priority of our foreign policy. It would seem the implementation of this policy suffered a serious failure as Afghanistan was overrun by the Taliban, an Islamist group that doesn’t treat the alphabet folks very well…that is, they behead them. Makes you wonder what the Afghans thought as the U.S. Embassy in Kabul flew the Rainbow Flag in June to mark Pride Month. Of course, now the Taliban flag flies over the former embassy. If the events of recent days are any indication, the protection of U.S. citizens and Afghans who supported us for 20 years took an obvious back seat to the promotion of sexual perversion on a global scale. What a country!