>> John Kerry introduces LGBT envoy
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“Qui que vous soyez et qui que vous aimiez” les Etats-Unis sont “à vos côtés”, a promis vendredi le secrétaire d’Etat John Kerry à l’adresse des homosexuels dans le monde, en intronisant le premier émissaire pour les droits des personnes LGBT.
“C’est plus qu’un message, c’est un mouvement que nous pouvons lancer et, avec notre travail, que nous allons couronner de succès“, a lancé le chef de la diplomatie américaine en présentant à son ministère et la presse le diplomate Randy Berry nommé lundi “envoyé spécial pour les droits humains des personnes LGBT“.
“Les Etats-Unis d’Amérique restent déterminés dans leur engagement à faire progresser les droits de tous les êtres humains et cela inclut au premier plan les personnes LGBT égales à toutes les autres ici chez nous et partout dans le monde“, a martelé John Kerry, très applaudi.
M. Berry, présenté par le département d’Etat comme un diplomate “ouvertement gay“, s’est exprimé lors de la cérémonie d’intronisation s’adressant à son mari et à ses jeunes enfants. “Cet amour est toujours puni par de la prison, du harcèlement, de la torture et par bien pire dans trop d’endroits dans le monde. C’est une violation des droits de l’homme“, a-t-il dit.
M. Berry a été en poste au Népal, en Nouvelle-Zélande, en Ouganda, au Bangladesh, en Egypte ou en Afrique du Sud et encore aux Pays-Bas.
Aux Etats-Unis, les couples de même sexe peuvent légalement se marier dans 37 Etats sur 50 (plus la capitale Washington) et la Cour suprême doit décider en juin si le mariage est un droit constitutionnel pour tous les couples, quelle que soit leur orientation sexuelle.
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>> Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday formally introduced Randy Berry as the special U.S. envoy to promote global LGBT rights.
“We have a moral obligation to speak out against the persecution and the marginalization of LGBT persons,” said Kerry during a State Department reception where he formally introduced Berry. “The United States of America remains unwavering in our commitment to advance the human rights of all being, and that includes LGBT persons.”
Berry’s husband and their two young children joined him during the reception.
“This love still stands ground for imprisonment, harassment, torture and far worse in too many places around the world,” said Berry, referring to his spouse who is originally from South Africa. “That is a violation of human rights.”
“We can and we must do better,” added Berry. “Lives, futures, hopes and dreams depend on that and that is why we are here today and that is also why this type of role is needed.”
Berry has been the consul general at the U.S. Consulate in Amsterdam since August 2012.
He was the consul general at the U.S. Consulate in Auckland, New Zealand, from 2009-2012 and the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Nepal from 2007-2009. Berry during his State Department career has also been posted in D.C., Bangladesh, Egypt, Uganda and South Africa.
“Secretary Kerry has rightly recognized that the unique human rights abuses facing LGBT persons require a unique candidate in a unique role,” Selim Ariturk, president of GLIFAA, an association of LGBT employees of Foreign Service agencies, told the Washington Blade after the reception. “We couldn’t be more proud to see Randy take this important job.”
LGBT rights advocates around the world also welcomed Berry’s appointment.
“With the appointment of the special envoy for LGBT Rights, the U.S. has shown its strong position to ensure everyone has the same rights including for LGBT people,” Midnight Poonkasetwattana, executive director of the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health, which is based in Bangkok, told the Blade on Friday. “I hope the strong and open political commitment can also happen in our part of the world — in Asia Pacific as well — and that he’ll be able to help LGBT groups and networks advocate at the national level for LGBT rights.”
“ILGA-Europe welcomes Randy Berry’s appointment as the U.S. State Department’s first-ever LGBT envoy,” said ILGA-Europe in a statement. “ILGA-Europe see his appointment as an opportunity to strengthen the involvement of allies to the LGBTI community, both from the LGBTI sphere and others working on related human rights issues.”
Mauricio Albarracín Caballero, executive director of Colombia Diversa, a Colombian LGBT advocacy group, on Friday during a Skype interview with the Blade from his country’s capital of Bogotá questioned what exactly Berry would do to promote global LGBT rights as a State Department envoy.
Albarracín noted the State Department last week appointed Bernie Aronson as a special envoy for the ongoing peace talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a rebel group, that continue to take place in the Cuban capital of Havana.
“It’s good the Obama administration has appointed (Berry,)” Albarracín told the Blade. “It sends a message to the world, but it needs a clear plan.”
avec AFP
