Tag Archives: This week in LGBTQ news

How news outlets covered the State Department’s visa policy change

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Under a new State Department policy that went into effect October 1, the United States will issue a G-4 visa to a partner of a staff member of US-based international organizations only if the couple is legally married. Among other organizations, this includes the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.

Per the State Department’s website: “Effective immediately, U.S. Embassies and Consulates will adjudicate visa applications that are based on a same-sex marriage in the same way that we adjudicate applications for opposite gender spouses.”

This has ramifications for anyone who worked for a US-based international organization and wanted to obtain a G-4 vis for a partner. But this has noticeable consequences for same-sex couples. In many countries, same-sex marriage is not permitted. Furthermore, there are some countries where same-sex relations are still illegal, and in some countries, punishable by death.

From an NBC News article:

For all new G-4 applications filed at the State Department after Monday, the same-sex partner must be a legally married spouse. For U.N. workers who are in relationships currently recognized by a G-4 visa but are not legally marriage, their partners will have 30 days after the new year to either get married or exit the United States.

David Pressman, who was the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Security Council for special political affairs in the Obama administration, said the G-4 action is harmful in part because the United Nations is “composed of probably one of the most diverse workforces of any organization in the world.”

“If that’s how you advance equality between same-sex and opposite sex partners, then we have an enormous problem on our hands,” Pressman said. He described the policy as a “creative and cynical way to use the expansion of equality at home to vindictively target same-sex couples abroad.”

Here’s a look at how a handful of news outlets framed the issue. I’ve included screenshots of the headlines, as well as links to the articles.

First, the aforementioned piece from NBC News: U.S. to partners of U.N. LGBTQ staff: Get married, or get out
U.S. to partners of U.N. LGBTQ staff: Get married, or get out

CBS News: U.S. says same-sex partners of UN staff will have to marry or leave
U.S. says same-sex partners of UN staff will have to marry or leave

ABC News: Trump administration halts visas for unmarried same-sex partners of foreign diplomats
Trump administration halts visas for unmarried same-sex partners of foreign diplomats

Washington Post: State Department changes visa rules for same-sex partners of foreign diplomats
State Department changes visa rules for same-sex partners of foreign diplomats

New York Times: U.S. Bans Diplomatic Visas for Foreign Same-Sex Domestic Partners
U.S. Bans Diplomatic Visas for Foreign Same-Sex Domestic Partners

Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Halts Some Same-Sex Visas for Foreign Officials in U.S.
Trump Administration Halts Some Same-Sex Visas for Foreign Officials in U.S.

Los Angeles Times: U.S. stops issuing visas to same-sex partners of foreign diplomats unless they are married
U.S. stops issuing visas to same-sex partners of foreign diplomats unless they are married

CNN: US halting visas for same-sex partners of diplomats
US halting visas for same-sex partners of diplomats

New York Magazine: The U.S. Just Made Life Harder on LGBT Diplomats and U.N. Staff
The U.S. Just Made Life Harder on LGBT Diplomats and U.N. Staff

And here are some headlines from LGBTQ-themed publications:

INTO: The Trump Administration Is Denying Visas to Unmarried Same-Sex Partners of U.N. Diplomats
The Trump Administration Is Denying Visas to Unmarried Same-Sex Partners of U.N. Diplomats

them: The State Department Says Gay Diplomats Have To Marry Their Partners Or Leave
The State Department Says Gay Diplomats Have To Marry Their Partners Or Leave

LGBTQ Nation: Trump administration will deny visas to same-sex partners of diplomats
Trump administration will deny visas to same-sex partners of diplomats

The Advocate: Trump Reverses Clinton Policy, Strips Visas From Same-Sex Partners of Diplomats
Trump Reverses Clinton Policy, Strips Visas From Same-Sex Partners of Diplomats

Headlines have the challenge of distilling the essence of a story down to a few words while not giving away too much of the story. This story is a hard story to sum up in a short headline, because there are so many ways to frame the situation:

  • The State Department has a new policy affecting people who want G-4 visas
  • People who work for US-based international organizations who want visas for their partners will have to get married to get those visas
  • People who work for US-based international organizations who want visas for their partners will have to get married to get those visas, but there will be complications for some people
  • People who work for US-based international organizations who want visas for their partners will have to get married to get those visas, but same-sex couples face potential dilemmas that opposite-sex couples won’t face
  • UN workers who want to get G-4 visas for their partners will now have to marry their partners to get the visa
  • UN workers who want to get G-4 visas for their partners will now have to marry their partners to get the visa, even if they are in a same-sex couple and they live in a country where same-sex marriage is not legally allowed
  • UN workers who want to get G-4 visas for their partners will now have to marry their partners to get the visa, even if they are in a same-sex couple and they live in a country where same-sex relations are agains the law

Each of those statements is true, though some of them are descriptive and precise, and some are broader. Ultimately, the least clunky of them is that first one: “The State Department has a new policy affecting people who want G-4 visas.” But that fails to capture the totality of what’s happening, and what’s at stake.

Part of what makes it difficult to convey the news in brief, compelling and accurate language is that it’s difficult to refer to the people affected without being at least somewhat clunky. News organizations and the journalist who write for them have struggled on how to refer to couples in same-sex relationships. For years, “gay marriage” has been treated as interchangeable with “same-sex marriage,” and “gay couples” has been seen as acceptable to mean “same-sex couples.” This colloquial way of referring to same-sex couples is limited, though, as it implies something that we can’t know for certain: the orientations of the people in same-sex couples. In the US and other countries that permit same-sex couples to marry, the orientation of the couple is not a factor. The couples can comprise gay people, bisexual people, pansexual people, queer people, and so on. Even straight people.

Similarly, this policy change affects anyone in a same-sex couple wanting a G-4 visa, whether they are gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, etc. This might seem like hairsplitting and nitpicking, but there’s a good reason to pay attention to the language. From a traditional copy editor’s perspective, it’s more precise and accurate to say “same-sex couple” and “opposite-sex couple” than to say “gay couple” or “straight couple.” I can’t imagine too many people have written corrections for incorrectly identifying the sexual orientation of a couple who got married, but anyone who aims to be accurate — and correction-free! — should keep this in mind.

But beyond that, it’s more inclusive to say “same-sex couple,” because “gay couple” only speaks to gay couples. “Same-sex couples” includes so many more people. Bisexual people and others who identify as neither straight nor gay can feel erased or ignored if the default blanket description of “not straight” is just “gay.”

For similar reasons, the term “straight marriage” is also limited and inaccurate. There can be — and are — opposite-sex couples comprising people who don’t consider themselves straight.

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Obama, conversion therapy, and presidential stances on LGBT issues

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When President Obama told Robin Roberts on ABC in May 2012 that he supported same-sex marriage, he added, “I’ve stood on the side of broader equality for the LGBT community.” Thus, in the context of an Obama presidency, Wednesday’s announcement that Obama condemned conversion or “reparative” therapy for LGBT youth could seem like just one more example of the president standing “on the side of broader equality for the LGBT community.” Less than two years into his first administration, he repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. A year and a half later, he became the first sitting president to endorse same-sex marriage, and has since then stated his support for the end of bans on gay marriage.

But Obama hasn’t always been this vocal when discussing LGBT issues. No president or candidate has been. Thus, in a larger context, Wednesday’s announcement signalled that once again, the Obama presidency could be remembered for how Obama talked about and interacted with the LBGT community in a way different from past presidents. Because, in a larger context, this entire time in US history will be remembered for how society as a whole changed the way it talked about and interacted with the gay community, regardless of who was president at the time.

One need not go back too far in history to see how US presidents have evolved when talking about LGBT issues. This is a cursory list, and is certainly not meant to be exhaustive.

1993
President Clinton announced and later signed the policy that would become known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” in which LGBT members of the military could continue to serve, but not openly. The policy forced gays to hide their sexual orientation or face dismissal. More than 13,500 people were discharged under the rule since 1993.

Sept. 21, 1996
President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act, allowing states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed under laws of other states. Between then and the general election in November, Clinton’s campaign broadcasted ads on Christian radio touting that he had signed the Defense of Marriage Act.

Feb. 24, 2004
President George W. Bush announced support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

Aug. 3, 2004
Missouri voters passed an amendment that added a ban on gay marriage to the state constitution. Senator John F. Kerry, who was then the Democratic presidential nominee, said in an interview published with the Kansas City Star later that week that he would have voted for the gay marriage ban.

Nov. 2008
Barack Obama and John McCain faced each other in the general election. Though both men said they oppose same-sex marriage, they disagreed on whether the state constitutions should ban it.

Dec. 22, 2010
President Barack Obama signed legislation allowing gays to serve openly in America’s military, repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”.

Feb. 23, 2011
President Obama declared that he will no longer defend DOMA.

May 9, 2012
President Obama became the first president to endorse same-sex marriage. Mitt Romney, who would face Obama in the general election in the fall, reiterated that he opposed same-sex marrige.

Jan. 2013
In his second inauguration address, President Obama referenced LGBT rights and struggles when he said, “Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall”.

Feb. 2013
In a friend-of-the-court brief, the Obama administration told the US Supreme Court that California’s ban on same-sex marriage violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.

March 2013
Former president Bill Clinton wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post, calling for The Defense of Marriage Act to be overturned. “As the president who signed the act into law, I have come to believe that DOMA is contrary to those principles and, in fact, incompatible with our Constitution,” Clinton wrote.

January 2015
President Obama became the first president to use the word “transgender” in a State of the Union Speech.

March 2015
In a friend-of-the-court brief, the Obama administration urged the US Supreme Court to rule that states could not ban same-sex marriage.

This, of course, is a very incomplete list. And this is not to say that Obama always had the same stances on LGBT issues. He will often say that he evolved. Clinton himself said that when he signed DOMA, it was a “different time.”

I wrote last year that some bloggers and pundits thought Obama had unfairly gotten a “pass” on his 2008 statements on gay marriage. The unifying question was this: If Brendan Eich had to resign as CEO of Mozilla because he gave $1,000 to support Proposition 8 in 2008, why does Barack Obama get a pass for saying in 2008 that marriage should be between a man and a woman?

As I wrote then:

If Obama or anyone who voiced opposition to same-sex marriage ever got a “pass,” it certainly wasn’t an across-the-board pass from the LGBTQ community. A quick Google search of the terms “Obama” “gay marriage” shows quickly that prominent sites and blogs about LGBTQ issues — The Advocate, The Bilerico Project, GoodAsYou and Towleroad — show that Obama, Hillary Clinton and other Democrats did not get a “pass” on their stances on same-sex marriage or other issues. Bill Clinton, the president who signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law, didn’t receive a pass last year when he wrote an op-ed denouncing the law.

How presidential candidates will discuss gay marriage will probably be strongly influenced by how the Supreme Court will rule this year on the topic. It’s not an issue that will go away. Obama’s presidency does not mean that no candidate will ever oppose same-sex marriage again.

Nor do the LGBT milestones during an Obama presidency mean that he is responsible for them. As I said earlier, the Obama presidency could be remembered for how Obama talked about and interacted with the LBGT community in a way different from past presidents. But that probably has a lot to do with the fact that this entire time in US history will be remembered for how society as a whole changed the way it talked about and interacted with the gay community, regardless of who was president at the time.

This week in LGBTQ news, April 7-13

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In case you missed it, here are some of the biggest news pertaining to LGBTQ issues to come out of the last week:

ACLU filed suit in North Carolina
The American Civil Liberties Union launched a new legal assault on North Carolina’s constitutional ban on recognizing same-sex marriage, urging a federal judge to quickly negate it to help children and gay couples suffering from urgent health problems. The civil rights group said it was seeking to speed up a decision in lawsuit filed in 2012 by citing the urgent health needs of a child who suffers from cerebral palsy who was adopted by one of the lesbian couples involved in the case. The ACLU also filed a new lawsuit on behalf of three other lesbian couples struggling with health conditions made more difficult because they lack legal recognition of their marriages performed in other states, said ACLU staff attorney Elizabeth Gill.

For more context:
ACLU sues for faster action to overturn North Carolina same-sex marriage ban [Charlotte Observer]
‘We don’t have time to wait,’ 78-year-old gay plaintiff says [News & Record]

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Federal judge ordered Indiana to recognize couple’s marriage
A federal judge ordered Indiana to recognize the out-of-state marriage of a gay couple before one of the women, who has ovarian cancer, dies. The decision, specific to the couple, who married in Massachusetts in 2013, doesn’t affect other lawsuits challenging Indiana’s ban on same-sex marriages.

For more context:
Indiana must recognize couple’s marriage [The Boston Globe]
Judge grants request to force Indiana to recognize couple’s same-sex marriage [The Indianapolis Star]
Judge orders Indiana to recognize ailing gay woman’s marriage [The Chicago Tribune]

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Tom of Finland stamps announced, Harvey Milk stamp ceremony at White House announced
Itella Posti Oy, the Finnish equivalent of the United States Postal Service, announced it will release new stamps featuring the sketches of Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland. Per the announcement:

His emphatically masculine homoerotic drawings have attained iconic status in their genre and had an influence on, for instance, pop culture and fashion. In his works, Tom of Finland utilized the self-irony and humor typical of subcultures.

During his career, Tom of Finland produced more than 3,500 drawings. The two drawings on the stamp sheet were selected by graphic artist Timo Berry, who designed the stamp, and Susanna Luoto, the Finnish representative of the foundation named after Tom of Finland operating in Los Angeles.

The stamps will debut in the fall. Unless you’re my mother or my nephew, click here to see the stamps. But if you are my mother or nephew, then please, do not click there.

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Chelsea Manning to serve as honorary grand marshal of San Francisco Pride Parade
Chelsea Manning, an imprisoned U.S. Army private charged in a massive leak of U.S. secrets to the WikiLeaks website, will serve as an honorary grand marshal in this year’s San Francisco Pride parade. Parade organizer Gary Virginia said Friday that Chelsea Manning — formerly known as Bradley Manning — was chosen to make amends for a controversy last year. Manning was named an honorary grand marshal ahead of the 2013 parade, but had the honor revoked. Virginia apologized, saying that decision was mishandled.

For more context:
Bradley Manning won’t get Pride honors [San Francisco Chronicle]
San Francisco gay pride rescinds honour for Bradley Manning [The Guardian]
Chelsea Manning parade retraction still creating tension on SF Pride board [San Francisco Examiner]

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Open letter to Pope Francis urges him to change church teaching on homosexuality
The head of a homeless shelter for LGBT youth published an open letter to Pope Francis in The New York Times Sunday, asking him to change the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality.

I write to you as a Roman Catholic, a former Benedictine monk and as a gay man who has spent over 30 years serving the homeless, first as a member of the Catholic Worker Movement, and now as the founder and Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, America’s largest center for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth based in New York City.

I write on behalf of the homeless LGBT youths I serve. I ask you to take urgent action to protect them from the devastating consequences of religious rejection, which is the most common reason LGBT youths are driven from their homes. At the heart of the problem is that the church still teaches that homosexual conduct is a sin, and that being gay is disordered. I hope that if you understand how this teaching tears families apart and brings suffering to innocent youths, you will end this teaching and prevent your bishops from fighting against the acceptance of LGBT people as equal members of society.

Read the full ad here.

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Alan Simpson announces support for same-sex marriage
Former US Senator Alan Simpson has filmed a same-sex marriage commercial that will air in Wyoming and other western states. Simpson says as a Republican he believes one of the party’s core values is the right to be left alone. He says whether people are gay or lesbian or straight, if they love someone and they want to marry, they should marry.