U.S. Government Working to Uphold, Advance LGBT Rights

In this White House blog post, Samantha Power, special assistant to the President and senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights at the National Security Council, highlights progress made across the U.S. government in implementing "the first-ever Presidential Memorandum to advance the human rights of [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT)] persons." The memorandum "require[s] all U.S. agencies engaged abroad to 'ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons,' and to report annually on their progress," she notes. Power discusses efforts undertaken by the State Department, USAID, the Peace Corps, PEPFAR, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Department of Health and Human Services and other departments, as well as multilateral engagements. She writes, "We will continue to build on this foundation to identify new opportunities to advance and protect the human rights of LGBT persons" (12/13).