Reasons to Have Pride in 2012, Part 4

Because countries passing antigay laws shouldn’t expect a pass

In her historic December speech before the United Nations, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear America’s commitment to the world’s LGBT population. “You have an ally in the United States of America and you have millions of friends among the American people,” she said to the gay, bisexual, and transgender people who live in countries that outlaw their very existence. A few weeks earlier, British prime minister David Cameron had threatened to withhold foreign aid to countries that persecute gays. The Obama administration has taken a more subtle approach, factoring LGBT human rights records among other criteria when considering aid in such multibillion-dollar programs as the Millennium Challenge Corporation. If the president’s global mandate on LGBT rights has any weight in the coming years, countries that arrest, imprison, and abuse their LGBT citizens are on notice: The U.S. will not be silent.