U.S. advocacy for LGBTQI rights abroad: the Middle East
United States officials in the Middle East and North Africa have engaged in relatively quiet diplomacy during the past year with the goal of improving treatment of the region’s LGBTQI+ residents.
This is the first in an eight-part series focusing on the impact of President Joe Biden’s February 2021 order to U.S. government agencies to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world.” In April 2022, a total of 14 U.S. departments and agencies, ranging from the State Department to the Peace Corps, combined to create a comprehensive report about what they have done in response to that presidential order.
Related commentary: “Biden is silent when a loud message on global LGBT rights is needed” (Erasing 76 Crimes, November 2021)
Today’s post includes excerpts about six of the nine nations in the Middle East and North Africa where homosexual activity is illegal, as described by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs:
In Lebanon, the Public Affairs Section (PAS) awarded a grant to promote the integration and participation of LGBTQI+ persons in Lebanon in the democratic process. The program also seeks to provide resources for the LGBTQI+ community to expand understanding of itself as a distinct and powerful community by creating the first gender and sexuality library in Lebanon. The library provides a specialized compendium of knowledge from all over the world in an archive of Arab and Arab-American LGBTQI+ cultural, political, social, and historical content.
In Kuwait, Embassy officials communicated with the lawyer of a transgender woman in prison for “imitating the opposite sex” and “misusing phone communication.” Local and international media widely covered her case as well as her accusations of abuse against prison officials. Post is monitoring her case and her treatment while in confinement.
In Egypt, the Embassy participates as part of a group of human rights officers from like-minded embassies who collaborate to ensure diplomatic representation at high-level hearings, attend pride month and national coming out day events/observances, and share information on significant developments with potential impact on vulnerable groups including Egypt’s LGBTQI+ community.
In Algeria, quarterly LGBTQI+-focused roundtables with like-minded diplomatic missions continue.
During June 2021, Mission UAE posted four messages promoting Pride Month on its social media platforms and featured a statement by Secretary Blinken on its website. Embassy Abu Dhabi [UAE] coordinated with the British Embassy to raise the Pride flag on June 28 in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots. Both embassies displayed the flag flying over their embassies on their social media accounts. This was the first known and publicized flying of the Pride flag by foreign missions in the UAE.
On October 10, diplomats at Post supported the Algeria-specific TenTen Campaign. The TenTen campaign acknowledges October 10 as Algeria’s national day for LGBTQI+ rights. The campaign asks LGBTQI+ allies to place lit candles in their windows in a low profile – yet visible – show of solidarity with the community.
Embassy Abu Dhabi’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee created ten banner stands that featured prominent LGBTQI+ persons working in the U.S. government. The banners were staged throughout the Embassy for the month of June.
Due to Yemen’s conflict, the sensitivities regarding LGBTQI+ issues in Yemeni society, and the Yemen Affair Unit’s (YAU) location in Riyadh, post has not directly engaged with the LGBTQI+ community in recent months. Post has engaged with the Republic of Yemen Government (ROYG) and UN Special Envoy for Yemen on the status of the human rights of the LGBTQI+ community.
