• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

Activist Questions Denial of U.S. Visas to African LGBT SF Pride Invitees

June 24, 2014 by Joseph Ehrman-Dupre

MelanieNathanMelanie Nathan (right), director of the San Francisco African Leadership Institute, wrote a scathing piece about the state department's denial of visas for several LGBTI persons from African countries whom she had invited to march in the San Francisco Pride Parade. The 2014 celebration, called "Color Our World with Pride," should have been the perfect venue for the expression of oppressed communities from around the globe, particularly LGBTI Africans and particularly given the United States' response to anti-gay actions on the part of the Ugandan government, among others. Nathan found herself distressed at the notion of Secretary of State John Kerry touting the state department's commitment to global equality initiatives (as the speaker at the department's GLIFAA Pride event, no less) while denying visas to the people who need them most.

Writes Nathan at HuffPost:

The State Department denied seven people a platform to speak about the persecution in their countries, presumably for fear that they might not return home to the countries that persecute them. And after they were denied, a clear pattern emerged, and I pulled 11 of the remaining 14 applicants.

While the Obama administration and this secretary of state have supported the LGBT movement like none before, there is no excuse for this flagrant snub and the homophobic attitude expressed by some of the consular officials who did the interviewing.

JohnKerryNathan argues that by denying visas the U.S. government is abetting the oppression faced by many of the people she had invited for participation in the Pride event. "[By] denying these Pride visas, we may as well have added the victims of the persecution to the blacklist too," Nathan writes.

She believes that Kerry (left) and his department have done a disservice to the global community, and it is hard to deny the cruel irony of the situation:

"No matter where you are, no matter who you love, we stand with you," noted Kerry in that Pride-affirming speech. "And that's what pride means, and that's what drives us today."

And he further assured, "The journey isn't complete. The march isn't over. The promise isn't perfected. But we will march on together."

…

No, Mr. Secretary, it seems that in fact we are not marching together. You have denied us all that privilege.

Filed Under: Africa, Gay Pride, News Tagged With: Africa, Gay Media, Gay Media, Gay Pride, Gay Quotes, Gay Quotes, gay rights, Gay Rights, News, san francisco, San Francisco

Recent Posts

  • Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

    Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

    10 hours ago
  • Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

    Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

    15 hours ago
  • Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

    Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

    15 hours ago
  • Gay Ballet Dancer Seeks Room to Rent, Goes Viral

    Gay Ballet Dancer Seeks Room to Rent, Goes Viral

    16 hours ago
Previous Post: « Former Exodus International Chairman John Paulk Opens Up About New Life
Next Post: Orlando City Council Files Brief In Support Of Same-Sex Marriage »

Primary Sidebar

  • Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

  • Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

  • Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

Recent Posts

  • Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

    Bigfoot, Cheyenne Jackson, Meghan McCain, ‘It’s a Sin’, Ted Wheeler, Snoopy, Boise Gay Bar: HOT LINKS

    10 hours ago
  • Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

    Black Woman Whose Family Was Cuffed at Gunpoint During Mistaken Vehicle Stop Files Civil Rights Lawsuit

    15 hours ago
  • Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

    Twitter Investigating After Kellyanne Conway Allegedly Shared Topless Photo of Teen Daughter Claudia

    15 hours ago
  • Gay Ballet Dancer Seeks Room to Rent, Goes Viral

    Gay Ballet Dancer Seeks Room to Rent, Goes Viral

    16 hours ago
  • 19-Year-Old Gets 28 Years to Life for Brutal Murder of Teen He Feared Would Expose Their Relationship

    19-Year-Old Gets 28 Years to Life for Brutal Murder of Teen He Feared Would Expose Their Relationship

    16 hours ago
  • Citi Says it’s Standing by Golfer Justin Thomas After Anti-Gay Slur, Requiring Him to Donate ‘Meaningful Portion’ of Sponsorship Fee to LGBTQ Orgs

    Citi Says it’s Standing by Golfer Justin Thomas After Anti-Gay Slur, Requiring Him to Donate ‘Meaningful Portion’ of Sponsorship Fee to LGBTQ Orgs

    17 hours ago
  • Nikki Haley Says Violent Insurrection on Capitol, Coup Attempt ‘No Basis’ for Trump Impeachment: ‘At Some Point Give the Man a Break’ — WATCH

    Nikki Haley Says Violent Insurrection on Capitol, Coup Attempt ‘No Basis’ for Trump Impeachment: ‘At Some Point Give the Man a Break’ — WATCH

    18 hours ago
  • Hate Crime Charge Added in Case of Gay Man Stabbed and Strangled into Coma by Grindr ‘Date’

    Hate Crime Charge Added in Case of Gay Man Stabbed and Strangled into Coma by Grindr ‘Date’

    18 hours ago
  • Mitch McConnell Caves on Filibuster Demands, Agrees to Senate Power-Sharing Deal: WATCH

    Mitch McConnell Caves on Filibuster Demands, Agrees to Senate Power-Sharing Deal: WATCH

    18 hours ago
  • MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Permanently Canned from Twitter for Election Conspiracy Theories

    MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Permanently Canned from Twitter for Election Conspiracy Theories

    19 hours ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2021 · Log in