Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a powerful, game-changing speech in Geneva yesterday to push for a global campaign to end the violence and discrimination against LGBT people. In the speech (full video below – if you haven’t seen it – please watch) Clinton talks about how this issue is “one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time.”
In a statement, President Barack Obama said he was “deeply concerned by the violence and discrimination targeting LGBT people around the world” and added that the US government would provide a “swift and meaningful response to serious incidents that threaten the human rights” of such people.
“As it has happened so many times before, opinion will converge once again with the truth, the immutable truth, that all persons are created free and equal in dignity and rights. We are called once more to make real the words of the Universal Declaration. Let us answer that call. Let us be on the right side of history, for our people, our nations, and future generations, whose lives will be shaped by the work we do today. I come before you with great hope and confidence that no matter how long the road ahead, we will travel it successfully together.”
-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – December 6 2011