Transgender Day of Remembrance

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY KERRY

Transgender Day of Remembrance

The State Department joins people around the world in marking Transgender Day of Remembrance, honoring the memory of lives lost to violence provoked by fear and hatred of transgender and gender non-conforming people.

We have made tremendous progress in advancing the rights of LGBT persons. But when people continue to be harassed, arrested and even killed simply because of who they are and who they love, we know that we still have hard work before us.

The sad truth is that in too many places, including the United States, transgender persons continue to face violence and discrimination on a daily basis.

In too many cases, crimes against LGBT persons, including murder, are not thoroughly investigated or prosecuted. Transgender persons are frequently denied medical care and public services. They still suffer discrimination in employment, education, and housing. Each of these episodes threatens our common humanity. Together, we pay a price when rights are trampled. And, together, we win when rights are protected.

That is why we are engaging diplomatically to address the specific challenges faced by transgender persons. And that’s why we will continue to urge other governments to protect all of their citizens regardless of their gender identity. Through the Global Equality Fund, we are increasing support to civil society organizations to combat bias-motivated violence targeting transgender persons.

The rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons are not special or separate or different. They are basic human rights. And human rights are universal, not negotiable.

On Transgender Day of Remembrance, we renew our commitment to ensuring that all persons are able to live safely, freely and with dignity, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Keeping Secrets, or, My Manning Rant

Up to now, with the exception of one shared Facebook status, I have kept my opinions on the Bradley/Chelsea Manning affair in my own head or my own home. And even as I type this, I have no idea whether I will publish it.

When the news first broke that PFC Bradley Manning, who had allegedly leaked reams of classified documents, was gay, I groaned. Just what we need, the person accused of treasonous acts being gay. And worse, saying that he did it because he was gay.

Because as a gay person, I find that personally offensive. Being gay is not an illness, and it does not force you to violate the oath you took to defend your country.

And I felt the same way when he later announced that he was actually transgender.Because being transgender also is not an illness and does not force you to violate the oath you took.

So I was dismayed when I saw so many of my friends defending her actions, first on the grounds that the U.S. Government is some big, evil thing that is out to do horrible things. And "ha ha ha, we caught you and now you are pissed about it." And second on the grounds of Manning being transgender.

I'll address the second first because it is simpler.

In the words of Kristin Beck, the transgender former Navy Seal, "What you wear, what color you are, your religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity has no basis on whether you are a CRIMINAL or NOT."

I feel no more sympathy for her actions because she is transgender than I would if she were simply Bradley Manning, standard issue straight white guy. Because there are good and bad people of every race, every religion, every sex, every sexual orientation, and every gender identity. Did you feel bad for Jeffrey Dahmer because he was gay? Or did you feel bad for all of the young men he killed and consumed?

The second is about the work of the government.

I am an American Indian, so I don't see our government through rose-colored glasses. I have an ancestor who died on the Trail of Tears. I know our government is capable of and had done some horrible things.

And so I believe, whole-heartedly, in whistle-blowing. Absolutely, if you are inside the government and learn of wrong-doing, expose it. There are hoards of journalists (among whose ranks I used to work) who are eager to help you publicize it if the channels within your organization fail. And I believe in those journalists. I believe that they are a guardian of our freedom by helping to keep the government honest.

But that isn't what Manning did. Manning was convicted of releasing classified documents without regard to content. Without believing that any particular action needed to be brought to public scrutiny. (You want an example? Take the alleged documents Manning released on Estonia. You know what the Estonians said? They said, well, if these are real then the Americans are telling Washington exactly what they told us they were.) And that isn't whistle-blowing. That is treason.

Now maybe you believe the U.S. government should have no secrets from its people. And the government saying it needs to keep secrets is unacceptable. Certainly, it seems a lot of my friends feel that way. But if you do, you are wrong, and let me give you an example of why.

Each year, in every country where we have a diplomatic mission, we write a human rights report. This is what it sounds like, a report on the human rights situation in a particular country. And to get that information, we spend the year talking to human rights activists in those countries. And reporting back to Washington what we are learning in the hopes that the U.S. government can use some of its influence to help protect people's rights world wide.

The secrets we as government employees keep are not based on making sure you don't know but on making sure that only those who need to know something actually know it. Now do you feel you have a need to know  the names of those human rights activists? Probably not.

But say you did feel you had a right to know. So say we just wrote all about everything those activists told us in unclassified, unprotected reports back to Washington.

Great! Now you know a secret. And you know who else does? The leaders in those countries that are violating people's human rights. And now not only did you get the name of the activist telling us something, but so did those leaders. And while your level of knowledge went up, those activists' life expectancy went down. Also going down? The chances that future activists will talk to us, and the chances that we can try to do anything to help.

So when they say Manning's actions put people's lives at risk, this is the kind of thing they meant. But all that is worth it to keep the government from having secrets, right?

You know who else's lives are at risk? The American diplomats who are reporting on those issues. Because there are certainly people in the world who would like it better if we stopped looking into how they treat their own people.

(And there is a certain irony that a lot of the folks who are celebrating Manning as a hero also want us to do something to help in places like Syria.)

So the consequence of all Americans getting to know everything is that everyone everywhere gets to know everything. Even the people who are killing their own people.

And that is just one reason why we might need to keep secrets. That is just one reason why I keep the oath I made to protect my country and keep her secrets.

And that is why Manning is a traitor, without regard to her gender identity.

Puppets and Pärnu

If I hadn't had so much to do this week, me and this creeping crud I brought home from the conferences in Brussels would have stayed home yesterday and today. But alas, not only did I have too much to do, but it was all stuff I really wanted to do.

Yesterday it was the NUKU puppet theatre and museum in the Old City. Silly me, I forgot my camera, because they have REALLY COOL stuff in there! They currently have a production going on of a Japanese puppetry play from the 1700s, and are building the puppets (and gargoyles! Did I mention I have a gargoyle that I won in a white elephant party as a doorstop...and that I actually bought him at a thrift store for said party and then did my best to win him?) for a vampire play. I am so going to that!

And today was the kickoff of Pärnu America Days. It was my first trip to Pärnu (though I expect the first of several over the coming two weeks). The Ambassador spoke to students and teachers at the local library to kick off the event, which includes films, a teepee in the center of town, a car show, pumpkin carving and lots of other stuff. It is organized by a local American, and we support the event. It is pretty awesome.

And the town is really beautiful, or what little I got to see of it. I hope to see more. But what got me right off the bat was that as you cross the Pärnu River into Pärnu, they have a monument of five flags of the city. But they had taken down the center one and replaced it with the American flag.


After the event, we drove quickly back to Tallinn to present a screening of Boys Don't Cry, the 1999 movie starring Hilary Swank based on the true story of Brandon Teena, a female-to-male transexual who was raped and murdered. I think the movie touched a lot of people there tonight (there were 50 or more in attendance), many of whom thanked me and some of whom left the theatre with tears in their eyes.

I used my introduction of the event to say a bit about my own background as the victim of bullying, and about the It Gets Better project aimed at combating teen suicide by the victims of bullying. I said that while the stories of teens who take their lives as a response to bullying and the story of a young man who was murdered are not identical, both stem from a lack of societal acceptance of LGBT people.

Because it does get better, and I think the most powerful story I can tell to illustrate that is my own.

Employment of Transgender Individuals

Department cable put out last week:

SUBJECT: Employment of Transgender Individuals

1. The Department remains committed to a diverse workforce and to creating a workplace free of discrimination and harassment. To ensure that we fulfill our obligations and responsibilities, and create a productive work environment, we are sharing guidelines published on May 27 by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on the employment of transgender individuals in the federal workplace (http://www.opm.gov/diversity/T​ransgender/Guidance.asp). All managers and supervisors should review this guidance.

2. OPM's guidance reiterates the federal government's policy to treat all employees with dignity and respect and to provide a workplace that is free from discrimination whether based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity or pregnancy), national origin, disability, political affiliation, marital status, membership in an employee organization, age, sexual orientation, or other
non-merit factors. The Department's policy on discrimination and harassment already prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity. Relevant FAM updates were in progress at the time OPM's guidelines were published and are forthcoming.

3. OPM developed its guidelines to address common Questions that agencies have raised regarding employment of transgender individuals. Managers and supervisors should be aware of Department resources available to them. Questions regarding the employment of transgender individuals should be addressed to the Chief of the Work Life Division in the Office of Employee Relations. The Department recognizes that bureaus and overseas posts may have specific questions and HR stands ready to provide necessary guidance. The Department will also develop general policy guidance beyond that set forth by OPM as needed.

CLINTON