Good evening, and let me express my deep honor
and pleasure at being here.
I want to thank Director General Tokayev and
Ms. Wyden along with other ministers, ambassadors,
excellencies, and UN partners.
This weekend, we will celebrate Human Rights
Day, the anniversary of one of the great accomplishments
of the last century.
Beginning in 1947, delegates from six continents
devoted themselves to drafting a declaration
that would enshrine the fundamental rights
and freedoms of people everywhere.
In the aftermath of World War II, many nations
pressed for a statement of this kind to help
ensure that we would prevent future atrocities
and protect the inherent humanity and dignity
of all people.
And so the delegates went to work.
They discussed, they wrote, they revisited,
revised, rewrote, for thousands of hours.
And they incorporated suggestions and revisions
from governments, organizations, and individuals
around the world.
At three o'clock in the morning on December
10th, 1948, after nearly two years of drafting
and one last long night of debate, the president
of the UN General Assembly called for a vote
on the final text.
Forty-eight nations voted in favor; eight
abstained; none dissented.
And the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
was adopted.
It proclaims a simple, powerful idea: All
human beings are born free and equal in dignity
and rights.
And with the declaration, it was made clear
that rights are not conferred by government;
they are the birthright of all people.
It does not matter what country we live in,
who our leaders are, or even who we are.
Because we are human, we therefore have rights.
And because we have rights, governments are
bound to protect them.
In the 63 years since the declaration was
adopted, many nations have made great progress
in making human rights a human reality.
Step by step, barriers that once prevented
people from enjoying the full measure of liberty,
the full experience of dignity, and the full
benefits of humanity have fallen away.
In many places, racist laws have been repealed,
legal and social practices that relegated
women to second-class status have been abolished,
the ability of religious minorities to practice
their faith freely has been secured.
In most cases, this progress was not easily
won.
People fought and organized and campaigned
in public squares and private spaces to change
not only laws, but hearts and minds.
And thanks to that work of generations, for
millions of individuals whose lives were once
narrowed by injustice, they are now able to
live more freely and to participate more fully
in the political, economic, and social lives
of their communities.
Now, there is still, as you all know, much
more to be done to secure that commitment,
that reality, and progress for all people.
Today, I want to talk about the work we have
left to do to protect one group of people
whose human rights are still denied in too
many parts of the world today.
In many ways, they are an invisible minority.
They are arrested, beaten, terrorized, even
executed.
Many are treated with contempt and violence
by their fellow citizens while authorities
empowered to protect them look the other way
or, too often, even join in the abuse.
They are denied opportunities to work and
learn, driven from their homes and countries,
and forced to suppress or deny who they are
to protect themselves from harm.
I am talking about gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender people, human beings born
free and given bestowed equality and dignity,
who have a right to claim that, which is now
one of the remaining human rights challenges
of our time.
I speak about this subject knowing that my
own country's record on human rights for gay
people is far from perfect.
Until 2003, it was still a crime in parts
of our country.
Many LGBT Americans have endured violence
and harassment in their own lives, and for
some, including many young people, bullying
and exclusion are daily experiences.
So we, like all nations, have more work to
do to protect human rights at home.
Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive
for many people and that the obstacles standing
in the way of protecting the human rights
of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal,
political, cultural, and religious beliefs.
So I come here before you with respect, understanding,
and humility.
Even though progress on this front is not
easy, we cannot delay acting.
So in that spirit, I want to talk about the
difficult and important issues we must address
together to reach a global consensus that
recognizes the human rights of LGBT citizens
everywhere.
The first issue goes to the heart of the matter.
Some have suggested that gay rights and human
rights are separate and distinct; but, in
fact, they are one and the same.
Now, of course, 60 years ago, the governments
that drafted and passed the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights were not thinking about how
it applied to the LGBT community.
They also weren’t thinking about how it
applied to indigenous people or children or
people with disabilities or other marginalized
groups.
Yet in the past 60 years, we have come to
recognize that members of these groups are
entitled to the full measure of dignity and
rights, because, like all people, they share
a common humanity.
This recognition did not occur all at once.
It evolved over time.
And as it did, we understood that we were
honoring rights that people always had, rather
than creating new or special rights for them.
Like being a woman, like being a racial, religious,
tribal, or ethnic minority, being LGBT does
not make you less human.
And that is why gay rights are human rights,
and human rights are gay rights.
It is violation of human rights when people
are beaten or killed because of their sexual
orientation, or because they do not conform
to cultural norms about how men and women
should look or behave.
It is a violation of human rights when governments
declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those
who harm gay people to go unpunished.
It is a violation of human rights when lesbian
or transgendered women are subjected to so-called
corrective rape, or forcibly subjected to
hormone treatments, or when people are murdered
after public calls for violence toward gays,
or when they are forced to flee their nations
and seek asylum in other lands to save their
lives.
And it is a violation of human rights when
life-saving care is withheld from people because
they are gay, or equal access to justice is
denied to people because they are gay, or
public spaces are out of bounds to people
because they are gay.
No matter what we look like, where we come
from, or who we are, we are all equally entitled
to our human rights and dignity.
The second issue is a question of whether
homosexuality arises from a particular part
of the world.
Some seem to believe it is a Western phenomenon,
and therefore people outside the West have
grounds to reject it.
Well, in reality, gay people are born into
and belong to every society in the world.
They are all ages, all races, all faiths;
they are doctors and teachers, farmers and
bankers, soldiers and athletes; and whether
we know it, or whether we acknowledge it,
they are our family, our friends, and our
neighbors.
Being gay is not a Western invention; it is
a human reality.
And protecting the human rights of all people,
gay or straight, is not something that only
Western governments do.
South Africa’s constitution, written in
the aftermath of Apartheid, protects the equality
of all citizens, including gay people.
In Colombia and Argentina, the rights of gays
are also legally protected.
In Nepal, the supreme court has ruled that
equal rights apply to LGBT citizens.
The Government of Mongolia has committed to
pursue new legislation that will tackle anti-gay
discrimination.
Now, some worry that protecting the human
rights of the LGBT community is a luxury that
only wealthy nations can afford.
But in fact, in all countries, there are costs
to not protecting these rights, in both gay
and straight lives lost to disease and violence,
and the silencing of voices and views that
would strengthen communities, in ideas never
pursued by entrepreneurs who happen to be
gay.
Costs are incurred whenever any group is treated
as lesser or the other, whether they are women,
racial, or religious minorities, or the LGBT.
Former President Mogae of Botswana pointed
out recently that for as long as LGBT people
are kept in the shadows, there cannot be an
effective public health program to tackle
HIV and AIDS.
Well, that holds true for other challenges
as well.
The third, and perhaps most challenging, issue
arises when people cite religious or cultural
values as a reason to violate or not to protect
the human rights of LGBT citizens.
This is not unlike the justification offered
for violent practices towards women like honor
killings, widow burning, or female genital
mutilation.
Some people still defend those practices as
part of a cultural tradition.
But violence toward women isn't cultural;
it's criminal.
Likewise with slavery, what was once justified
as sanctioned by God is now properly reviled
as an unconscionable violation of human rights.
In each of these cases, we came to learn that
no practice or tradition trumps the human
rights that belong to all of us.
And this holds true for inflicting violence
on LGBT people, criminalizing their status
or behavior, expelling them from their families
and communities, or tacitly or explicitly
accepting their killing.
Of course, it bears noting that rarely are
cultural and religious traditions and teachings
actually in conflict with the protection of
human rights.
Indeed, our religion and our culture are sources
of compassion and inspiration toward our fellow
human beings.
It was not only those who’ve justified slavery
who leaned on religion, it was also those
who sought to abolish it.
And let us keep in mind that our commitments
to protect the freedom of religion and to
defend the dignity of LGBT people emanate
from a common source.
For many of us, religious belief and practice
is a vital source of meaning and identity,
and fundamental to who we are as people.
And likewise, for most of us, the bonds of
love and family that we forge are also vital
sources of meaning and identity.
And caring for others is an expression of
what it means to be fully human.
It is because the human experience is universal
that human rights are universal and cut across
all religions and cultures.
The fourth issue is what history teaches us
about how we make progress towards rights
for all.
Progress starts with honest discussion.
Now, there are some who say and believe that
all gay people are pedophiles, that homosexuality
is a disease that can be caught or cured,
or that gays recruit others to become gay.
Well, these notions are simply not true.
They are also unlikely to disappear if those
who promote or accept them are dismissed out
of hand rather than invited to share their
fears and concerns.
No one has ever abandoned a belief because
he was forced to do so.
Universal human rights include freedom of
expression and freedom of belief, even if
our words or beliefs denigrate the humanity
of others.
Yet, while we are each free to believe whatever
we choose, we cannot do whatever we choose,
not in a world where we protect the human
rights of all.
Reaching understanding of these issues takes
more than speech.
It does take a conversation.
In fact, it takes a constellation of conversations
in places big and small.
And it takes a willingness to see stark differences
in belief as a reason to begin the conversation,
not to avoid it.
But progress comes from changes in laws.
In many places, including my own country,
legal protections have preceded, not followed,
broader recognition of rights.
Laws have a teaching effect.
Laws that discriminate validate other kinds
of discrimination.
Laws that require equal protections reinforce
the moral imperative of equality.
And practically speaking, it is often the
case that laws must change before fears about
change dissipate.
Many in my country thought that President
Truman was making a grave error when he ordered
the racial desegregation of our military.
They argued that it would undermine unit cohesion.
And it wasn't until he went ahead and did
it that we saw how it strengthened our social
fabric in ways even the supporters of the
policy could not foresee.
Likewise, some worried in my country that
the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don’t Tell”
would have a negative effect on our armed
forces.
Now, the Marine Corps Commandant, who was
one of the strongest voices against the repeal,
says that his concerns were unfounded and
that the Marines have embraced the change.
Finally, progress comes from being willing
to walk a mile in someone else's shoes.
We need to ask ourselves, "How would it feel
if it were a crime to love the person I love?
How would it feel to be discriminated against
for something about myself that I cannot change?"
This challenge applies to all of us as we
reflect upon deeply held beliefs, as we work
to embrace tolerance and respect for the dignity
of all persons, and as we engage humbly with
those with whom we disagree in the hope of
creating greater understanding.
A fifth and final question is how we do our
part to bring the world to embrace human rights
for all people including LGBT people.
Yes, LGBT people must help lead this effort,
as so many of you are.
Their knowledge and experiences are invaluable
and their courage inspirational.
We know the names of brave LGBT activists
who have literally given their lives for this
cause, and there are many more whose names
we will never know.
But often those who are denied rights are
least empowered to bring about the changes
they seek.
Acting alone, minorities can never achieve
the majorities necessary for political change.
So when any part of humanity is sidelined,
the rest of us cannot sit on the sidelines.
Every time a barrier to progress has fallen,
it has taken a cooperative effort from those
on both sides of the barrier.
In the fight for women’s rights, the support
of men remains crucial.
The fight for racial equality has relied on
contributions from people of all races.
Combating Islamaphobia or anti-Semitism is
a task for people of all faiths.
And the same is true with this struggle for
equality.
Conversely, when we see denials and abuses
of human rights and fail to act, that sends
the message to those deniers and abusers that
they won’t suffer any consequences for their
actions, and so they carry on.
But when we do act, we send a powerful moral
message.
Right here in Geneva, the international community
acted this year to strengthen a global consensus
around the human rights of LGBT people.
At the Human Rights Council in March, 85 countries
from all regions supported a statement calling
for an end to criminalization and violence
against people because of their sexual orientation
and gender identity.
At the following session of the Council in
June, South Africa took the lead on a resolution
about violence against LGBT people.
The delegation from South Africa spoke eloquently
about their own experience and struggle for
human equality and its indivisibility.
When the measure passed, it became the first-ever
UN resolution recognizing the human rights
of gay people worldwide.
In the Organization of American States this
year, the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights created a unit on the rights of LGBT
people, a step toward what we hope will be
the creation of a special rapporteur.
Now, we must go further and work here and
in every region of the world to galvanize
more support for the human rights of the LGBT
community.
To the leaders of those countries where people
are jailed, beaten, or executed for being
gay, I ask you to consider this: Leadership,
by definition, means being out in front of
your people when it is called for.
It means standing up for the dignity of all
your citizens and persuading your people to
do the same.
It also means ensuring that all citizens are
treated as equals under your laws, because
let me be clear – I am not saying that gay
people can’t or don’t commit crimes.
They can and they do, just like straight people.
And when they do, they should be held accountable,
but it should never be a crime to be gay.
And to people of all nations, I say supporting
human rights is your responsibility too.
The lives of gay people are shaped not only
by laws, but by the treatment they receive
every day from their families, from their
neighbors.
Eleanor Roosevelt, who did so much to advance
human rights worldwide, said that these rights
begin in the small places close to home – the
streets where people live, the schools they
attend, the factories, farms, and offices
where they work.
These places are your domain.
The actions you take, the ideals that you
advocate, can determine whether human rights
flourish where you are.
And finally, to LGBT men and women worldwide,
let me say this: Wherever you live and whatever
the circumstances of your life, whether you
are connected to a network of support or feel
isolated and vulnerable, please know that
you are not alone.
People around the globe are working hard to
support you and to bring an end to the injustices
and dangers you face.
That is certainly true for my country.
And you have an ally in the United States
of America and you have millions of friends
among the American people.
The Obama Administration defends the human
rights of LGBT people as part of our comprehensive
human rights policy and as a priority of our
foreign policy.
In our embassies, our diplomats are raising
concerns about specific cases and laws, and
working with a range of partners to strengthen
human rights protections for all.
In Washington, we have created a task force
at the State Department to support and coordinate
this work.
And in the coming months, we will provide
every embassy with a toolkit to help improve
their efforts.
And we have created a program that offers
emergency support to defenders of human rights
for LGBT people.
This morning, back in Washington, President
Obama put into place the first U.S.
Government strategy dedicated to combating
human rights abuses against LGBT persons abroad.
Building on efforts already underway at the
State Department and across the government,
the President has directed all U.S.
Government agencies engaged overseas to combat
the criminalization of LGBT status and conduct,
to enhance efforts to protect vulnerable LGBT
refugees and asylum seekers, to ensure that
our foreign assistance promotes the protection
of LGBT rights, to enlist international organizations
in the fight against discrimination, and to
respond swiftly to abuses against LGBT persons.
I am also pleased to announce that we are
launching a new Global Equality Fund that
will support the work of civil society organizations
working on these issues around the world.
This fund will help them record facts so they
can target their advocacy, learn how to use
the law as a tool, manage their budgets, train
their staffs, and forge partnerships with
women’s organizations and other human rights
groups.
We have committed more than $3 million to
start this fund, and we have hope that others
will join us in supporting it.
The women and men who advocate for human rights
for the LGBT community in hostile places,
some of whom are here today with us, are brave
and dedicated, and deserve all the help we
can give them.
We know the road ahead will not be easy.
A great deal of work lies before us.
But many of us have seen firsthand how quickly
change can come.
In our lifetimes, attitudes toward gay people
in many places have been transformed.
Many people, including myself, have experienced
a deepening of our own convictions on this
topic over the years, as we have devoted more
thought to it, engaged in dialogues and debates,
and established personal and professional
relationships with people who are gay.
This evolution is evident in many places.
To highlight one example, the Delhi High Court
decriminalized homosexuality in India two
years ago, writing, and I quote, “If there
is one tenet that can be said to be an underlying
theme of the Indian constitution, it is inclusiveness.”
There is little doubt in my mind that support
for LGBT human rights will continue to climb.
Because for many young people, this is simple:
All people deserve to be treated with dignity
and have their human rights respected, no
matter who they are or whom they love.
There is a phrase that people in the United
States invoke when urging others to support
human rights: “Be on the right side of history.”
The story of the United States is the story
of a nation that has repeatedly grappled with
intolerance and inequality.
We fought a brutal civil war over slavery.
People from coast to coast joined in campaigns
to recognize the rights of women, indigenous
peoples, racial minorities, children, people
with disabilities, immigrants, workers, and
on and on.
And the march toward equality and justice
has continued.
Those who advocate for expanding the circle
of human rights were and are on the right
side of history, and history honors them.
Those who tried to constrict human rights
were wrong, and history reflects that as well.
I know that the thoughts I’ve shared today
involve questions on which opinions are still
evolving.
As it has happened so many times before, opinion
will converge once again with the truth, the
immutable truth, that all persons are created
free and equal in dignity and rights.
We are called once more to make real the words
of the Universal Declaration.
Let us answer that call.
Let us be on the right side of history, for
our people, our nations, and future generations,
whose lives will be shaped by the work we
do today.
I come before you with great hope and confidence
that no matter how long the road ahead, we
will travel it successfully together.
Thank you very much.�
