President Joe Biden on Thursday
announced that he will sign a presidential memorandum declaring that
the United States will promote LGBT rights around the globe.
Biden made the announcement while
giving a speech at the State Department, the Washington Blade
reported.
“When we defend equal rights of the
people the world over, of women, and girls, of LGBTQ individuals,
indigenous communities and people with disabilities, the people of
every ethnic background and religion, we also ensure that those
rights are protected for our own children here in America,” Biden
said.
“America cannot afford to be absent
any longer on the world stage,” he
added.
While the president did not say when he
would issue the memo, he said that the US would “ensure diplomacy
and foreign assistance are working to promote” LGBT refugees and
combat the criminalization of sexual minorities and people who
identify as transgender.
In 2011, former President Barack Obama
signed a presidential memorandum that promoted LGBT rights abroad. A
special envoy was created in the State Department in 2015 to fulfill
the president's goal. President Donald Trump left the position
unfilled.
During his Senate confirmation hearing,
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he would create an
ambassador-level position to promote LGBT rights abroad.