Reading the international headlines recently, I was reminded how LGBT rights around the world are at vastly different points of development.
In Uganda, the Constitutional Court just struck down the law that specified jail times up to life for the crime of “homosexuality.” That’s personal freedom at its most basic. Unfortunately, Nepal looks like it might enact similar laws criminalizing same-sex relationships — and they wouldn’t be the only one. In some countries, homosexuality is still punishable by death.
In Michoacan, Mexico, the first same-sex couple to marry has also just won the right to become parents. That’s another level of freedom — freedom to form our own families.
In Austria, the High Court is considering whether both members of same-sex couples, like different-sex couples, should receive child support payments. Along with forming our own families comes the need for economic protections for them (and Austrian same-sex couples are still fighting for the freedom to form their families, since they still cannot jointly adopt or access assisted reproduction together).
In the United States, as in Mexico, rights vary with location, although at least our identities aren’t criminalized anywhere. On a federal level, things have vastly improved since the military began letting LGB people serve openly in 2011 and part of the Defense of Marriage Act was struck down last year, but there is still more to do. Transgender people still cannot serve openly in the military. There are no federal protections against employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. On a state level, many of us are still prevented from pursuing a path to parenthood and from protecting our child with legal ties to both parents. We must all still think about what happens when we cross state lines for vacation, business, or career purposes. Until every state recognizes our families and accords us protection from discrimination, we are not fully equal.
We are, however, in a far better position than many around the world. It feels sometimes like there is little we can do from here to help LGBT people across the globe — but we can continue to encourage the State Department to keep LGBT rights on its agenda. We can share on social media when we hear of human rights violations around the world. Uganda took a step back from the edge this week, and I am in awe of the brave advocates who fought for change in that country. I hope that LGBT groups and individuals in the U.S. and elsewhere continue to support them and the many others in LGBT-hostile countries.
