Biden highlights LGBTQ rights in UN General Assembly speech. (Washington Blade and Los Angeles Blade)

President Joe Biden understands LGBTQIA+ rights are human rights.  

But our misguided, other-directed,  Florida Governor, state legislature, St. Johns County Commission Chair and School Board do not. 

Pray for them. 

And, Vote for better candidates.  

I, for one, am an openly Gay man who has supported equality as a litigator and as an activist since 1989. 

I have filed to run for Florida State House of Representatives, District 17, seat currently encumbered by second-generation Florida politician CYNTHIA WARD "CYNDI" STEVENSON.

From the Washington Blade and Los Angeles Blade:

Biden highlights LGBTQ rights in UN General Assembly speech

President noted crackdowns in Chechnya, Cameroon

September 21, 2021 By Michael K. Lavers 

President Biden addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 21, 2021. (Screen capture via NBC News)

President Biden on Tuesday in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly spoke in support of LGBTQ rights around the world.

“We all must defend the rights of LGBTQI individuals so they can live and love openly without fear,” he said.

Biden in his speech specifically cited anti-LGBTQ crackdowns in Chechnya and Cameroon. He spoke after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is a vocal opponent of LGBTQ rights, addressed the General Assembly.

“As we pursue diplomacy across the board, the United States will champion the democratic values that go to the very heart of who we are as a nation and a people: freedom, equality, opportunity and a belief in the universal rights of all people,” said Biden.

The White House earlier this year released a memorandum that committed the U.S. to promoting LGBTQ rights abroad.

The decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations and protecting LGBTQ migrants and asylum seekers are two of the administration’s five priorities in its efforts to promote LGBTQ rights abroad. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week expressed concern over the fate of LGBTQ Afghans who remain in their country after the Taliban regained control of it, but it remains unclear how many of them the U.S. has been able to evacuate.