ANALYSIS: Biden Imposes Homosexual/Transgender Mandate on Entire World

Stefano Gennarini, J.D, C-Fam, 7/24

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 12 (C-Fam) The U.S. State Department will “update” its interpretation of a binding international treaty on civil rights to include homosexual/transgender issues even though the treaty text does not mention them.

“Today, I’m announcing that the United States is updating our own interpretation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  This is one of the key treaties committing nations to upholding universal rights.  That means that, starting from now, the United States considers sexual orientation and gender identity as covered by this treaty,” U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said during an LGBT pride event at Foggy Bottom.

“LGBTQI+ rights are human rights.  And our government has a responsibility to defend them, to promote them – here and everywhere,” Blinken said adamantly. He described how this includes promoting homosexual marriage as well as the decriminalization of homosexual activity, something U.S. diplomats do routinely through UN mechanisms.

The change in interpretation demonstrates how high a priority homosexual/transgender issues have become in U.S. foreign policy. The homosexual/transgender agenda is so important that it has displaced traditional bipartisan concerns about preserving the integrity of international law against politicization.

Blinken explained that the new interpretation was necessary to provide a “clear framework” for U.S. promotion of homosexual/transgender issues abroad.

The U.S. Secretary of State claimed it was a “well-supported interpretation” of the UN civil rights treaty ratified by the U.S. in 1991. This claim belies the fact that the UN treaty on civil and political rights does not include a single mention of homosexual/trans issues, and that such issues were never understood to be part of the treaty. The truth is, the new interpretation is a radical departure from the conservative text-based legal interpretation traditionally employed by U.S. State Department lawyers.

The U.S. State Department normally interprets treaties by sticking close to the text of the treaty. They discourage and frown on attempts to read new obligations into a treaty, no matter how worthy the cause. Even progressive lawyers who interpret the U.S. Constitution as a living instrument normally discourage the same loose approach with international law.

The point is to ensure respect for international law and take it seriously. Such considerations took a back seat in the decision of the Biden administration to jettison a cautious legal approach in favor of homosexual/transgender issues. The new interpretation sets a harmful precedent for reading any political issue into an international treaty, regardless of its text and history.

During the State Department’s LGBT pride event, Blinken boasted that the Biden administration has imposed economic and visa sanctions against countries and foreign politicians that do not support homosexual/transgender issues. He acknowledged that some recent laws against LGBT advocacy and conduct were new laws in reaction to Western pressure on these issues. Blinken promised not to back down. In the case of Uganda, Blinken described how the Biden administration is trying to influence social and policy changes by funding pro-LGBT non-governmental organizations on the ground while the country is under a U.S-imposed economic embargo.

Blinken also claimed that the new interpretation of the treaty was necessary to promote homosexual/transgender issues within the United States. “Upholding these rights is crucial to safeguarding and accelerating our renewal at home.  Our ability to stand up for human rights and democracy internationally is also tied directly to whether we’re strong on these fronts here in our own country,” he said.

ANALYSIS: Biden Imposes Homosexual/Transgender Mandate on Entire World