Post submitted by Stephen Peters, former Senior National Press Secretary and Spokesperson

HRC strongly condemned the Trump-Pence administration's refusal to sign a statement in support of an Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ ruling on marriage equality and transgender rights.

Earlier this month, the court issued an opinion that Costa Rica is in violation of its treaty obligations under the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) by not providing marriage equality or providing legal options for transgender people to change their gender marker on identity documents. While seven of the eight countries in the Organization of American States (OAS) LGBTI Core Group signed on to a statement supporting the court's opinion, the United States did not.

“The Trump-Pence administration’s refusal to sign this statement in support of marriage equality and transgender rights is deeply troubling,” said Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global. “As the administration unleashes a torrent of attacks on the LGBTQ community here at home, it is also abandoning LGBTQ people around the world. We are in desperate need of leadership that will advance America’s commitment to LGBTQ human rights in the U.S. and abroad.”

The seven nations that signed the statement on January 22 are Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay. While the United States has not ratified the ACHR, Canada also has not, but that did not prevent their leadership from signing the statement.  It is also notable that Chile, which does not yet have marriage equality, and a number of countries that do not offer transgender individuals the option to legally change their official gender markers, signed the statement.