Wed 25 Jan 2017 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
As concern rises over LGBTI information disappearing from the White House website immediately after the inauguration of Republican President Donald Trump, LGBTI-related content has also been removed from the State Department site. Information relating to the State Department’s special envoy for the human rights of LGBTI persons, as well as Pride month observances has gone missing from the site, as has past-Secretary of Sate John Kerry's apology to LGBTI employees and their families who were historically targeted, harassed, and fired. And Trump's press secretary says he “doesn’t know” whether the new President will repeal discrimination protections for LGBTI people. However Trump did pledge during campaigning to sign the Republican-backed First Amendment Defence Act, a law which would permit anti-LGBTI discrimination on the grounds of religion. Meanwhile, a Republican senator says her posting of Facebook of an image of a swastika-bedecked glbti rainbow flag was accident. Janne Myrdal, who was amongst those who blocked an attempt at including same-sex marriage in US law, has apologised for "reposting a story on my personal Facebook wall that had an image attached to the link that I was unaware of; I have since deleted the post." But some who saw the posting say they can't believe she didn't see it as it was at the top of the original posting. Myrdal has declined to comment further.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 25th January 2017 - 12:34pm