In May,
2015, a full month ahead of what the White House declared LBGT Pride Month,
President Obama and the First Lady honored the International Day Against
Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) – MAY 17
- by saying LGBT rights are “human rights” and that “all people deserve
to live free from fear, violence, and discrimination, regardless of who they
are or whom they love.”
IDAHOT
came just weeks ahead of pride season in June and the Supreme Court’s highly
anticipated decision on national marriage equality, which was a welcome “YES!”
National
Security Advisor Susan Rice said in a statement, “This day and every day, the
United States stands in solidarity with members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender community and all those around the world who work to advance
the unassailable principle that LGBT rights are human rights”.
In a 2011
presidential memorandum seeking to advance global LGBT rights, Obama stated he
was “deeply concerned by the violence and discrimination targeting LGBT
persons
around the world, whether it is passing laws the criminalize LGBT status,
beating citizens simply for joining peaceful LGBT pride celebraiotns, or
killing men, women, and children for their perceived sexual orientation.”
People
who are afraid of LGBTs want us to have no rights because of religious doctrine
or ignorance about what being LGBT means. Having basic human rights of respect,
equality and lack of discrimination doesn’t seem to be a lot to ask for or
need. And yet, establishing those human rights has been an uphill battle for
many years.
Even
though now, in June 2016, a year after the President and First Lady opening
announced that we deserve to be treated with equality, even though we have been
given the right to marry in all states, there is still a long way to go before
we have the same rights as straight people.
Discrimination,
hatred, and denying human rights to LGBT people is a travesty. The movement to
contain and limit us is tremendous. We need to persevere with the momentum and awareness we have gained to keep the vision of the LGBT community having “human rights” alive.
