U.S. Embassies In Latin America Get Down With Gay Pride

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made no secret of her commitment to LGBT rights around the world. "Gay rights are human rights," she has said on a number of occasions. Apparently her State Department colleagues in Latin America agree.

Only a few weeks after it was reported that the U.S. Embassy in Kenya was celebrating pride, Andrés Duque reports that half-a-dozen U.S. satellites in the Latin America took part in their own pride events.

For example, Anne Andrew, the U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, held a "roundtable" on LGBT rights there, while the U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, Lisa Kubiske, sent out a tweet reiterating the States' engagement on LGBT issues. "The US Government supports the Honduran LGBT community in their fight for equality and respect," she wrote.

Officials in Chile, Panama, El Salvador and Ecuador also sent representatives to pride parades or held their own events, including a high heel race to erode traditional gender norms in Ecuador. As you can see in the photo above, the participants were in it to win it.

Read Duque's excellent article HERE.

Senate Finally Confirms Pro-LGBT Ambassador To El Salvador

You may recall that last December Republican senators blocked the confirmation of Mari Carmen Aponte, an Ambassador to El Salvador picked by Obama, because of a pro-LGBT editorial Aponte wrote in an Salvadoran newspaper in 2010.

"[Aponte's] decision to publish an opinion piece hostile to the culture of El Salvadorans presents even more doubts about her fitness for the job. This op-ed upset a large number of community and pro-life groups in El Salvador who were insulted by Ms. Aponte’s rhetoric," said Sen. Jim DeMint at the time about Aponte's op-ed, in which she insisted "homophobia and brutal hostility are often based on lack of understanding about what it truly means to be gay or transgender."

Well, the Washington Blade today reports that Aponte has finally been confirmed.

The U.S. Senate broke an impasse on Thursday to confirm a U.S. ambassador to El Salvador who had previously been denied the position in part of because of a pro-gay editorial she wrote in one of the country’s newspapers.

The Senate confirmed Mara Carmen Aponte, a D.C. lawyer and activist, to the role by voice vote after senators voted 62-37 to cut off debate on her nomination.
…
All Senate Democrats voted “yes” on cloture for her nomination. Republicans who joined them were Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine).

Sen. Harry Reid applauded the decision, saying, "During her recess appointment, Ambassador Aponte was an outspoken advocate for American values and democracy, and a staunch supporter of U.S. private enterprise." The Blade also reports that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton personally called senators and urged them to back the confirmation.

GOP Senators Use LGBT Rights Stance to Successfully Block Confirmation of Ambassador to El Salvador

Last week I wrote that GOP Senators were working to block confirmation of Mari Carmen Aponte, Obama's pick for Ambassador to El Salvador, who has been serving since Obama made her a recess appointee in September 2010, partly by using a June editorial she wrote supporting Gay Pride as reasons for objecting.

They succeeded:

Senate Republicans successfully filibustered on Monday the confirmation of an ambassadorial nominee, citing a pro-LGBT editorial she wrote as one reason to vote against her. The cloture vote to advance the nomination of Mari Carmen Aponte for the position of U.S. ambassador to El Salvador failed by 49-37 on a mostly party-line basis.

Said Sen. Jim DeMint of Aponte's editorial in which she argued against homophobia and violence against LGBT people:

"In her recess-appointed capacity as ambassador to El Salvador, Ms. Aponte has inflamed tensions in the very country where she should be improving diplomatic relations. Her decision to publish an opinion piece hostile to the culture of El Salvadorans presents even more doubts about her fitness for the job. This op-ed upset a large number of community and pro-life groups in El Salvador who were insulted by Ms. Aponte’s rhetoric."

Wrote Aponte in the piece, called, For the Elimination of Prejudices Wherever They Exist:

"No one should be subjected to aggression because of who he is or who he loves. Homophobia and brutal hostility are often based on lack of understanding about what it truly means to be gay or transgender. To avoid negative perceptions, we must work together with education and support for those facing those who promote hatred."

Senate GOP Uses Gay Pride Support as Excuse to Block Confirmation of Ambassador to El Salvador

The Senate confirmation of Mari Carmen Aponte, Obama's pick for Ambassador to El Salvador, who has been serving since Obama made her a recess appointee in September 2010, is being blocked by Republicans who are partly using a June editorial she wrote supporting Gay Pride as reasons for objecting.

The AP reports:

Conservative anger toward Aponte is based, in part, on an op-ed she wrote June 28 in La Prensa Grafica, a daily newspaper in El Salvador, The essay was in response to a State Department cable to ambassadors worldwide urging them to recognize gay pride month.

In a Spanish-language piece titled, "For the Elimination of Prejudices Wherever They Exist," Aponte wrote: "No one should be subjected to aggression because of who he is or who he loves. Homophobia and brutal hostility are often based on lack of understanding about what it truly means to be gay or transgender. To avoid negative perceptions, we must work together with education and support for those facing those who promote hatred."

In the op-ed, Aponte noted that the United States and El Salvador were among more than 80 nations that had signed a U.N. declaration for the elimination of violence against gays and lesbians. She also pointed out that El Salvador President Mauricio Funes had signed a decree in May 2010 prohibiting discrimination by the government based on sexual orientation.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved her nomination on a 10-9 party-line vote last week, but it's unclear if Aponte will be confirmed by the full Senate before the session ends.

News: Singapore, Sam Adams, Cubs, Matthew Mitcham, GI Joe

Singapore women's group AWARE votes out anti-gay fundamentalist leaders in dramatic seven hour stand-off. Background.

Britain's former top cop and London mayoral candidate Brian Paddick to front campaign encouraging same-sex couples to hold hands in public: "The photos are being used to create a same-sex love map of the world. David Watkins, the group's founder, said: 'Hand holding is a simple, liberating gesture that is essential to our communities' health, visibility, and respect.'" Site: A Day in Hand.

Thousands of Cubs fans go deaf at Wrigley Field.

Log Cabin Republicans making gains in NY assembly on marriage equality.

Matthew Mitcham exits Mexico City as swine flu escalates.

El Salvador in last minute gay rights ban: "After weeks of public debate and protest, El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly approved an amendment to the constitution to ban marriage between same-sex couples and same-sex couples’ ability to adopt a child.  This amendment was proposed in the final hours of the current Legislative Assembly session, which ends April 30th."

L.A. Times: Same-sex marriages gradually gaining legal ground.

Eiffel Tower destroyed in trailer for G.I. Joe: The Movie with Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid.

Loving: this self-portrait of Provincetown resident and filmmaker John Waters at Ptown's McMillan Wharf.

Marc Jacobs to marry in Provincetown.

Dog food vs paté? No difference, much of the time.

The Oregonian calls on Portland Mayor Sam Adams to resign in wake of recent investigations: "An investigation by The Oregonian's Ryan Frank and Brent Walth raised the questions, in a story published Friday, of whether the encounter took place earlier in the year and what it really amounted to. Whether that is the center of the AG's investigation remains to be seen, as does whether any of the conduct described, implied or suspected adds up to criminality." Phone calls...

Male model fix: Joey Kirchner.

Ed Westwick works up a sweat.

Missouri state senator Jolie Justus weds her partner in Iowa.

Manohla Dargis memo to Hollywood: "Enough with the gay slurs, the gay baiting, imitating, limp-wristing, so-not-funny lisping — in other words, enough with the hating...Try this simple test: Every time you feel the need to mock or denigrate gay men or lesbians, replace that joke with an equally vicious dig about African-Americans or Jews. Doesn’t sound so funny anymore, does it?"

Last week in holy crimes...

Miss California: Redefining breasts for the rest of us.

Obama appoints lesbian to become Assistant Secretary, Administration on Aging, at HHS.

AKA accidental wood.

Sweeps warning issued to cottagers: "Sweeps is the time local media often finds itself in bed with the cops to carry out sting operations of men cruising for sex. Just last week we got a report from a Bakersfield, California location where one customer saw not just cop cars and a cop van parked outside, but also a news van for a local television station. I'm sure it was a joint sting in which the media gets to film and photograph those men cops arrest. In fact, I would not be surprised to learn a reporter instigated the whole thing, asking the police to come along so they could get some good footage."