There are certain things that Randy Berry feels have no place in the future world he wants for his children and that includes discrimination and violence against individuals of various sexual orientation and gender identity. To him, these issues shouldn't even exist in 2016.
Randy Berry, US special envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI.
It's been 10 months since Berry -- a veteran diplomat -- has served as the US special envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons. The position, being the first tackling global ignoranceof its kind, is set to engage and encourage conversations about the fundamental topics about humanity and equality with governments, civil society, businesses and religious communities for the LGBTI population around the world.
Earlier this month, Thailand became the 39th country Berry visited as part of his special envoy's duty. Prior to ours, he made a stop in Taiwan and Vietnam. Advancement in this region, as Berry was pleased to discover, is coming through quite rapidly.
Vietnam lifted its ban on same-sex marriage last year, and will soon allow transgenders to change their title to that of their preferred gender. Taiwan is also one of the most progressive nations in Asia regarding LGBTI activities. Berry looks to them with interest. He hopes the rest of the world will catch up to their pace.
"More than half of the 39 countries I've visited are places where laws don't just encourage discrimination, but actually criminalise members of the LGBTI community," said Berry. "There are 75 countries around the globe that still have that legislation on the books. A smaller subset of countries -- maybe five or six -- can and have imposed death penalties [for those practicing same-sex activities]."
Prior to his duty as a Special Envoy, Berry served as a consul-general in Amsterdam. His other postings had taken him around the world, from New Zealand to Nepal; Bangladesh to Egypt. He has seen how violence against gender diversity exists in all corners of the world.
"I don't know a country where violence doesn't happen," said Berry. "It's not lost on me that, just a few months ago, we saw a series of killing of transgender women in Argentina. At the same time, I also know that less than 15km from where I live in Washington, D.C., a transwoman has also been murdered."
He added: "This is neither an American, nor a Thai issue. It's rather a global issue that we all need to work together to end."
Life caught up with the special envoy during his visit in Bangkok where he shared his views and concerns on global LGBTI situations.
What are some of your greatest concerns regarding current global LGBTI issues?
The plight of LGBTI refugees raises quite a concern. We find that when a person is displaced as a refugee, they're very vulnerable. With the issue of sexual orientation and gender identity on top of that, that creates a double vulnerability -- a very disturbing one. The place where I see this happening most is in those areas controlled by ISIS in Syria and Iraq where there's been an outflow of the refugee population. This is indeed a big humanitarian crisis.
What is the most immediate issue that we need to tackle urgently?
The biggest issue that works against us is ignorance. Many people don't have any ideas about what it means to be members of the LGBTI community. There's a need for visibility, the right kind. We all need to work to create an environment where people are free to open up about who they are. When they are free to do so, it produces a greater level of understanding by the general public. That's a mutually reinforcing thing.
How did Americans in general react to same-sex marriage legalisation by the US Supreme Court last year?
There's a great sense of happiness and not just among members of the LGBTI community. A much broader embrace now comes from allies, friends and families and I think that's really significant. There was a study done last year by the National Democratic Institute that shows 90% of Americans personally know someone who's a member of the LGBTI community. That's extraordinary compared to where we stood 30 years ago when that figure was closer to 20%.
Of course, progress on these issues is always a process. Some segments in our society are voicing opposition and we'll have that for some time. That's how democracy functions. We value freedom of speech a great deal in my country. But the key is same-sex marriage is now the law of the land. And we have that legal achievement of equality that I think is really important. At least, the vast majority of the people in the US have a fundamental belief that this is equality -- that this is fair.
Now that marriage equality has been granted in the US, what's next on the agenda?
While you can get married legally in all states, nothing stops you from being fired the next day for doing so in some of the places. It's not illegal to dismiss someone based on sexual orientation and this still exists in a minority of our states.
Hence, our next fight will probably come on the issue of non-discrimination. The US, currently, lacks comprehensive national non-discrimination legislation based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Some states in our system have already imposed such laws, but it is still not a nationwide priority. So, that's where the next struggles goes for us.
