Secretary of State Antony Blinken on this week reiterated the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights around the world is a key element of U.S. foreign policy.
“We are determined, starting with our boss, the president, that the United States be a champion for these rights around the world and a defender of the rights when they are under siege,” said Blinken on Wednesday during a roundtable with six LGBTQ and intersex reporters at the State Department. “Unfortunately, this is something that we see, you know very well, to be the case all too often in all too many places: Basic human rights, out of reach, under threat, active rollback in many places. And for that reason we try to focus all of our missions in our embassies as well as the senior officials here on the challenges that we see.”
The Washington Blade is among the media outlets the State Department invited to the roundtable, which was the first time a secretary of state sat down with a group of LGBTQ and intersex journalists during Pride Month. Jessica Stern, the special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad, and State Department spokesperson Ned Price, who is openly gay, are among those who attended the roundtable with Blinken.
The roundtable took place a day after a Russian court once again extended the detention of Brittney Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist who is a lesbian and married to her wife.
The State Department has determined that Russia “wrongfully detained” Griner at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February after customs inspectors found hashish oil in her luggage.
Blinken on May 14 spoke with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner.
Representative for Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs and Cultural Affairs. Officials with the State Department’s Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs on Monday met with Griner’s teammates to discuss her detention and efforts to secure her release.
“We’re very much engaged with them,” said Blinken.
He added the State Department is “very focused” on securing Griner’s release.
“We are determined to bring her home along with Paul (Whelan, an American citizen who is serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia after a court convicted him of spying) and for that matter, any and every American who is being unjustly detained anywhere in the world,” said Blinken. “It’s something that I am personally focused on, and I want to leave it at that because it is obviously an ongoing issue. But just know that this is a matter of intense focus for us.”
Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine who had been in a Russian custody since 2019, returned to the U.S. in late April after the Kremlin released him in exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian citizen who had been in an American prison on drug trafficking charges.
“We are working day and night relentlessly to bring Brittney, to bring Paul home, to bring every American who’s unjustly detained around the world,” said Price.
Price further described the decision to extend Griner’s detention through at least July 2 as “an injustice on top of broader injustice.”
“She should be released,” said Price.
LGBTQ, intersex rights part of ‘efforts to defend democracy’
President Biden in February 2021 signed a memo that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad as part of his administration’s overall foreign policy. The White House four months later appointed Stern, who was previously the executive director of OutRight Action International.
Blinken noted the State Department in April began to issue passports with “X” gender markers. Blinken also highlighted the U.N. General Assembly’s adoption of a free elections resolution last November that specifically includes sexual orientation and gender identity.
Price during a May 2021 interview with the Blade said the…
Read More: Blinken holds roundtable with LGBTQ, intersex journalists at State Department