US Secretary of State says in parts of Africa and Asia, gay rights is ‘just a totally foreign concept
Hillary Clinton has faced many challenges during her time as US Secretary of State and one of the biggest has been trying to promote LGBT equality around the world.
Clinton said during an appearance at Syracuse University this week that gay rights is ‘just a totally foreign concept’ in parts of Africa and Asia.
‘I mean, the first response is, ‘We don’t have any of those here,” she said, to laughter. ‘Second response is, ‘If we did, we would not want to have them and would want to get rid of them as quickly as possible. And it’s your problem, United States of America, that you have so many of those people. So don’t come here and tell us to protect the rights of people we don’t have or that we don’t want.”
‘It’s a very difficult conversation because it’s just not been one that people have had up until now,’ she added.
It was back in December that Clinton, a former US Senator and First Lady, made a landmark speech before the United Nations on LGBT rights.
‘I speak about this subject knowing that my own country’s record on human rights for gay people is far from perfect,’ she said then. ‘Until 2003, it was still a crime in parts of our country. Many LGBT Americans have endured violence and harassment in their own lives, and for some, including many young people, bullying and exclusion are daily experiences. So we, like all nations, have more work to do to protect human rights at home.’
by Greg Hernandez
Source – Gay Star News
