Biden Democracy Summit Attacks Whites and Catholics

By Alexis I. Fragosa, Esq. | December 9, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 10 (C-Fam) A U.S. official said this week that she wants to see an end to the “white” agenda. LGBT activist Jessica Stern said this at the Summit for Democracy convened this week by the U.S. government. Stern did not explain what’s involved in the “white agenda.”

The panel discussion, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and a special side event to President Biden’s Summit for Democracy, was moderated by Stern, the U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+. The panel featured gay and transgender government officials and activists, “promoting the human rights of LGBTQI+ people as a cornerstone of our commitment to democracy.”

“I have a Christmas list of some kind to help us along the way,” said transgender activist Phylesha Brown-Acton. “Start[ing] with ending white traditionalist racist and conservative religious agendas that outplay themselves across all regions in the world that fuel violence and threaten democracy.”

“We all want to see all of those things for you and all of us,” said Stern, “That was fantastic.”

The panel discussion, described as “a vital part of the President’s Summit for Democracy” by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, not only promoted what could be interpreted as racist comments but also attacked the Catholic Church.

“Now when it comes to LGBTQI+ the Catholic church, or the church in general, but mostly the Catholic church are very rigid,” said Esther Muthoni Rosanna Passaris, a parliamentarian from Nairobi, Kenya, who joined Catholics for Choice to advocate for LGBT and abortion rights.

President Biden’s Summit for Democracy, which will be held in two parts, brought together over one hundred countries, civil society, and the private sector to develop an agenda “to tackle the greatest threats to democracies.” The first summit focuses on three themes: authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights.

Participating countries came from Africa, South America, North America, Asia and Europe. Hungary was the only member of the European Union not invited to participate in Biden’s Summit. During his presidential campaign, Biden described Hungary as a “totalitarian regime.”

“It’s no coincidence that some of the same places where democracy seems to be in retreat are those where LGBTQ+ equality seems to be the most fragile,” said Buttigieg during the panel discussion.

“LGBTQ people are often forced to remain in the closet due to fear of violence,” said panelist Tamás Dombos of the Hungarian LGBT Alliance. Dombos called Hungary’s recent efforts to restrict the dissemination of information concerning homosexuality and sex reassignment surgery among minors as “a coordinated politically motivated hate campaign against LGBTQI.”

In response to their exclusion from the Summit, Hungary blocked the EU from formally participating in the Summit. Because Hungary is not invited, there can be no common EU position, said Hungarian minister Gergely Gulyás, citing the EU’s unanimity rule on foreign affairs.

Guatemala, which recently joined the pro-life Geneva Consensus Declaration, was also not invited. At a meeting with pro-life leaders at the Willard Hotel near the White House yesterday, Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said he would rather be with pro-lifers at the Willard than with Biden at the White House.

During the panel discussion, Buttgieg announced the launch of the Global LGBTQI+ Inclusive and Democracy Empowerment Fund (GLIDE), a U.S. State Department and Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) initiative. The GLIDE Fund will provide resources to civil society organizations and human rights advocates around the world to engage supportive political, government, and community leaders for the purpose of “reducing intolerance” against LGBTQI+ persons.

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter