Struggle not completed
It’s been a week since the nightmarish scenes at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., unfolded and ignited anew contentious debates about guns and terrorism. The motives of gunman Omar Mateen also remain murky – we may never know whether the 29 year-old was driven by zealotry, homophobia, self-loathing or some other noxious stew of anger and hatred.
What has been a balm to the spirit, however, is the sense of support and solidarity that has been offered unreservedly to the gay and lesbian community in Orlando and elsewhere. It is another demonstration of the distance the United States and other Western nations have traveled in their acceptance of gays and lesbians as colleagues and compatriots, not deviants who need to be held at arm’s length.
We need to remind ourselves, however, that this is the prevailing view in the United States and much of the developed world. In other parts of the world, however, gays and lesbians are subject to persecution, harassment, or worse.
Take, for instance, India. The world’s largest democracy outlaws homosexual acts. It’s the same in next-door neighbor Pakistan, the sixth-most populous nation in the world. Russia limited the rights of its gay and lesbian citizens in 2013, and prohibited the adoption of Russian children by gay and lesbian couples outside the country. If you are gay or lesbian in Chad, it could earn you a prison sentence lasting 15 to 20 years.
It’s worse elsewhere. Being gay or lesbian is a death sentence in places like Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Sudan. All told, it remains a criminal offense in 73 of the planet’s 193 nations.
Ensuring the safety and rights of the LGBTQ community around the world has become a greater priority for diplomats in the United States and other countries. The United Nations Security Council forcefully condemned the Orlando attack and, in 2011, the UN’s Human Rights Council approved a resolution denouncing discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
When she was secretary of state, Hillary Clinton declared, “gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.” Until that is recognized everywhere, the protracted struggle for gay rights will remain unfinished.