Bill Clinton urges on gay activists Former US president praises speed of LGBTI movement but warns against complacency 27 OCTOBER 2014 | BY DARREN WEE Former US President Bill Clinton last night urged LGBTI activists to continue fighting for equality following recent victories for gay marriage advocates. I’ve never seen a civil rights movement, at least in our country, move as far and as fast as your movement, ever, he said at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) annual dinner in Washington DC. Since the beginning of October, the number of states that allow gay marriage has shot from 19 to 32, as well as the district of Columbia. However, Clinton warned the more than 3,000 audience members, Dont kid yourself... there are still barriers that need to be brought down. All over the world there are young people who still have to cower in fear of their governments, their leaders and sometimes their families. Clinton has publicly expressed regret for signing the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. The US Supreme Court struck down the law in 2013. HRC advocates for LGBTI rights around the world, especially in Africa. Clinton said, We will prevail in a dangerous world if we have the best model of freedom and justice, equality and opportunity, the kind of things people want to be a part of, where everybody can be who they are. He said he was heartbroken that Uganda risked losing foreign aid due to its repeated attempts to pass a law to jail all LGBTI people. He said, I love Uganda, I’ve done a lot of work there. I did when I was President, and I have since. I’ve tried to help them with their AIDS problem, and one of my Clinton global initiative partners is building fabulous schools for them, at one quarter of the price the government was paying, so they have money to hire good teachers. It just breaks my heart that they put all that at risk to pursue what is essentially a political agenda, to isolate and demonise gay people for short-term political gain. In an unsettled time, identity politics of any kind are powerful and can prey on the self-confidence and the raw nerves of people who are uncertain about the unknown. The biggest threat to the future of our children and grandchildren is the poison of identity politics that preaches that our differences are far more important than our common humanity. Watch Clintons full speech below:
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 08:15:47 +0000
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