Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute starts his piece about this by reminding us just what a high priority the administration has ascribed to this:
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has put LGBT issues at the forefront of United States diplomacy. Embassies fly pride flags alongside the American flag. Diplomats lecture their foreign counterparts not only to ensure basic human rights, but also to advocate that they embrace a gender ideology the Democrats’ progressive base embraces (and for which there is no consensus in American society).
Shortly after taking office, President Joe Biden declared , “It shall be the policy of the United States to pursue an end to violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics, and to lead by the power of our example in the cause of advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world.”
He directed the State Department to prioritize the issue. Blinken was enthusiastic. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last September, he declared , “Standing up for LGBTQI+ people is a top priority for our administration.”
“Transgender people are often denied access to legal identity documents that reflect their names and gender markers,” he noted. While two dozen U.S. embassies lack ambassadors, the Biden team managed to appoint a special envoy to advance human rights for LGBT people.
There's one continent on which this initiative is landing with a big thud:
Since Biden inaugurated his LGBT-first policy, I have visited the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Somaliland. Each country faces serious challenges involving security, Russian encroachment, corruption, education, the economy, terrorism, and/or external aggression. While China builds hospitals, railroads, or highways; Turkish firms build housing developments or operate airports; and Russia sends mercenaries, American diplomats lecture about issues most Africans see as tone-deaf if not cultural imperialism. Rather than further American influence, it makes the United States a subject of ridicule.
Nor do the gay communities in these countries believe the U.S. approach is wise. Conservative African societies historically ignored homosexuality. African gays might bring long-term partners to family events with the explanation that they were simply roommates. It was, as Bill Clinton might say, a policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” By prioritizing the positions of the most extreme LGBT activists, the United States now sparks a backlash that worsens the situation, especially in countries such as Uganda.
It is not just gay people who suffer. Without any sense of irony or self-awareness, Blinken observed in February “the International De unpray of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.”
“The United States stands with the more than 200 million survivors of female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C) around the world in a posture of ‘zero tolerance’ for the practice,” he said . He declared female genital mutilation to be “a form of gender-based violence and a human rights abuse that threatens the lives and futures of girls and young women in nearly 30 countries around the world, including the United States.”
In this, he is right, but the policy he oversees now explicitly declares genital mutilation to be a human right if conducted for the right progressive reasons.
Talk about mixed signals.
I wanted to put this out there as an issue unto itself, but over at Precipice I intend to revisit a theme I frequently explore there: the consequences of the West's - and specifically America's unseriousness - about everything.
While we're on the subject of the Biden administration, I'd like to momentarily draw you attention to the fact that admin officials are shocked, doncha know, that Fitch has downgraded the nation's credit rating. Seriously?
Just this morning, there are three WSJ stories that, taken together, paint a picture of an unraveling society:
- A trend that has become very discernible is the unpreparedness of people starting work in fields ranging from health care to the military to hospitality to do their jobs.
- Gen X, the generation now raising children and adolescents, is dropping away from church attendance / affiliation / involvement, faster than any age group.
- Behavior in movie theaters has deteriorated badly, with people flagrantly violating house rules about phones and generally acting ling they're at rowdy concerts.
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