GBFan
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(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. is leading by example in promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) rights at home and around the world, Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday.
He said the federal government recognizes same-sex marriages of foreign diplomats stationed in the U.S., and it expects all other countries to do the same in their treatment of U.S. personnel deployed abroad.
“Let me be clear: We oppose any effort by any country to deny visas for spouses of American staff,” he said. “It’s discriminatory, it’s unacceptable, it has no place in the 21st century.”
Kerry told a "Pride" event at the State Department that the U.S. also is considering "all visa applications made by same-sex spouses in the same manner as those made by opposite-sex spouses.”
Western governments’ promotion of LGBT issues has caused friction in some conservative countries in recent years, including the predominantly Roman Catholic Dominican Republic, Islamic Pakistan, and Nigeria, where homosexuality is largely frowned upon by Christians and Muslims alike.
He said the federal government recognizes same-sex marriages of foreign diplomats stationed in the U.S., and it expects all other countries to do the same in their treatment of U.S. personnel deployed abroad.
“Let me be clear: We oppose any effort by any country to deny visas for spouses of American staff,” he said. “It’s discriminatory, it’s unacceptable, it has no place in the 21st century.”
Kerry told a "Pride" event at the State Department that the U.S. also is considering "all visa applications made by same-sex spouses in the same manner as those made by opposite-sex spouses.”
Western governments’ promotion of LGBT issues has caused friction in some conservative countries in recent years, including the predominantly Roman Catholic Dominican Republic, Islamic Pakistan, and Nigeria, where homosexuality is largely frowned upon by Christians and Muslims alike.
