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Previously...

Quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2539974/posts

Hillary Clinton Urges State Department Employees to Let Teens Know It’s Okay to Be Homosexual
CNS News ^ | 6/23/2010 | Penny Star
Posted on June 23, 2010 4:57:53 AM PDT by IbJensen

(CNSNews.com) – At an event celebrating Gay Pride Month on Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encouraged State Department employees to let teenagers know homosexuality is okay.

“We’ve come such a far distance in our own country, but there are still so many who need the outreach, need the mentoring, need the support to stand up and be who they are and then think about people in so many countries where it just seems impossible,” Clinton said.

“So I think that each and everyone of you, not only professionally, particularly from State and USAID and every bureau and every embassy and every part of our government have to do what you can to create that safe space, but also personally, to really look for those who might need a helping hand; particularly young people; particularly teenagers who still today have such a difficult time,” she added.

“And who, still in numbers far beyond what should ever happen, take their own life rather than live that life,” Clinton said at the event, billed as a human rights and U.S. foreign policy speech.

“So I would ask you to please think of ways you can be there for everyone who is making this journey,” Clinton said. “To defend not only human rights globally, but to truly defend themselves and their rights,” Clinton said.

Clinton’s remarks are part of a high-profile campaign by the Obama administration to mark Gay Pride Month with gatherings at various federal agencies, including the State Department on Tuesday. The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have held similar events.

Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s chief of staff, in her remarks to introduce Clinton said the Obama administration is “trying to change the world” and that it feels good “to be on the right side of change.”

Mills said Clinton has a “personal commitment” to the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community.

“Human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all,” Clinton said. “So here at the State Department we will continue to advance a comprehensive human rights agenda that includes the elimination of violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Clinton said that “agenda” must be advanced both around the world and at home.

“So as we continue to advance LGBT rights in other countries, we also must continually work to make sure we are advancing the agenda here,” Clinton said.

She closed her remarks by commenting on the significance of the gathering at the U.S. Department of State.

“And I thank you for being part of one of history’s great moments,” Clinton said.

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Quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2539934/posts

Home Depot’s ‘Gay Pride’ Support Spotlighted
ONE NEWS NOW.com ^ | 6/22/2010 6:00:00 AM | Charlie Butts
Posted on June 23, 2010 2:13:58 AM PDT by Cindy

SNIPPET: “Home Depot has a history of supporting homosexual events, the most recent parades in Portland, Maine, and in Boston — that according to Randy Sharp of the American Family Association.

“The worst offense is that Home Depot has set up kids’ workshops at these gay pride festivals,” explains AFA’s director of special projects.”

SNIPPET: “While homosexuals, who make up about two percent of the population, might applaud Home Depot for its actions, AFA contends the corporation is taking the risk of offending and losing business from the other 98 percent of the public.”

(Excerpt) Read more at onenewsnow.com ...

Previously...

Quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2539930/posts

Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Department of Justice’s 2010 Lesbian, Gay...
justice.gov - ag - speech ^ | June 21, 2010 | n/a
Posted on June 23, 2010 1:54:12 AM PDT by Cindy

NOTE The following text is a quote:

www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2010/ag-speech-100621.html

Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Department of Justice’s 2010 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month Program

Washington, D.C. ~ Monday, June 21, 2010

Good morning. Thank you, Chris [Hook], for your kind words and for all the work that you, Marc [Salans], the Board of DOJ Pride and our EEO staff team have done in organizing today’s ceremony. It’s a pleasure to join Tom [Perez] in welcoming so many members of the Justice Department family, and so many distinguished guests, here today as we commemorate LGBT Pride Month. I’m glad that Senator [Amy] Klobuchar and Director [John] Clark are with us. And I want to congratulate Chris [Hook] and this year’s other award recipients, Councilmember [David] Catania and Attorney General [Doug] Gansler, on their achievements and contributions. I also want to thank our keynote speakers – Jenny Durkan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, and Sharon Lubinski, U.S. Marshal for the District of Minnesota – for sharing their thoughts and stories with us and for providing an example of service for us all.

We have much to celebrate today. In the year since we last gathered, our nation – and the Justice Department – have taken steps to address some of the unique challenges faced by members of our country’s LGBT community. As you all know, up until last fall, there was not a single line in the nearly 225-year history of the U.S. Code that referred explicitly to gender identity. Today, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act – which the President signed into law last October – does just that, finally protecting our nation’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals from the most brutal forms of bias-motivated violence.

In another important development, in April of this year, the Justice Department concluded that the Violence Against Women Act covers, and more importantly protects, same sex partners. And, just several weeks ago, as part of the department’s, and the Administration’s, commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion, I announced a new Diversity Management Plan and the appointment of Channing Phillips as Deputy Associate Attorney General for Diversity. With this initiative, and with Channing’s leadership, we’re working to ensure that the Department can effectively recruit, hire, retain, and develop a workforce that reflects our nation’s rich diversity, a Department that welcomes and encourages the contributions of its LGBT employees.

I’m grateful for the assistance and guidance that so many of you have given. Our progress would not have been possible without your contributions. And while we have meaningful achievements to celebrate today, we must remember how much more work we have to do to transform today’s opportunities into tomorrow’s successes. Too many of the challenges that confronted the LGBT community 16 years ago – when DOJ Pride was founded – confront us still today. Too many of the same obstacles that existed then remain for us to overcome. Too many talented men and women cannot, in the words of this year’s motto, “serve openly, with pride.”

With your help and engagement, we’re working to ensure that the Justice Department lives up to its responsibility to provide a work environment where every employee is respected and given an equal opportunity to thrive. That’s the goal we share and the achievement we’ll keep working toward - together.

Thank you.