By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter
An LGBT activist appointed by the Biden administration to serve as the U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of “LGBTQI+ Persons” reportedly earned a six-figure salary while working in the position that previously existed under the Obama administration but was left unfilled by President Donald Trump.
President Joe Biden appointed Jessica Stern to the position in September 2021, a role previously held by Randy Berry from its inception in 2015 until 2017. Stern is only the second person to assume the position. The advocate led the LGBT advocacy group Outright International before Biden appointed her to the role of special envoy.
According to public records cited by Open Payrolls, Stern had a reported pay of $183,100 in 2022. The report noted that this is 152.6% higher than the average pay for federal agency employees and 164.0% higher than the national average for government employees.
In a 2021 statement to CNN, the White House said that the special envoy would help implement the “Presidential Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Around the World.”
“At a time when the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons are increasingly threatened in all regions of the world, the Special Envoy will bring together like-minded governments, civil society organizations, corporations and international organizations to uphold dignity and equality for all,” the White House continued.
At the time of her appointment, multiple states had sought to or had enacted laws requiring individuals to participate on the sports team that aligns with their sex. At the time, Arkansas had approved a law banning puberty blockers and trans surgeries for minors.
During an April 2022 special briefing, Stern said of the Presidential Memorandum that Biden signed near the beginning of his term that it “makes clear that promoting and protecting the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons is a U.S. foreign policy priority.”
The Biden appointee highlighted the findings of the first interagency report released in 2022, with the document outlining “how U.S. Government agencies engaged abroad are working to become more LGBTQI+-inclusive.”
“Through determined diplomacy and targeted foreign assistance, the United States is combating the criminalization of LGBTQI+ status or conduct, promoting protection of vulnerable LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers, responding to human rights abuses committed against LGBTQI+ persons, strengthening relationships with like-minded governments, engaging international organizations on the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons, and working to rescind policies inconsistent with our nation’s values,” Stern stated.
The special envoy applauded the Department of State for setting a “historic precedent” by becoming the first government agency to offer an “X” option on identification documents for individuals who do not identify as male or female.
In July 2023, Stern spoke during the opening of the LGBTI Political Leaders from the Americas and the Caribbean Conference in Mexico City. During her speech, the special envoy highlighted Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, signed by President Yoweri Museveni in 2023.
Stern compared the law to bills in the United States that ban life-changing procedures for children confused about their sex or exclude discussions about the topic of gender identity from lesson plans targeted at certain grade levels.
“The goal is to distract from crushing issues like corruption and poverty and climate change that don’t have easy solutions,” she said. “Scapegoating LGBTQI+ persons has real consequences. Turning an entire group of people into a threat to your society is not just a useful way to manipulate a domestic populace. In a world connected through social media the threats metastases regionally and globally.”
Advocates such as Chloe Cole, who transitioned as a minor but now regrets the decision, have spoken publicly about the damage altering their bodies to identify better as the opposite sex has done to them emotionally and physically.
"I've reached out to the team of medical professionals who helped me transition, and I haven't gotten any help with my detransition. I've even tried to figure out how to go through the motions all by myself," Cole said during the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference.
"I'm having a lot of complications from the blockers, the cross-sex hormones and the surgery and I haven't gotten help with any of those," she stated. "There's no standards of care for people like me."
The detransitioner added that her goal is "stop childhood transition and to improve the standard of care for dysphoric patients of all ages."
"There's very little evidence to suggest that gender transitions are actually successful. And the standard for a successful transition is 'well, the patient didn't commit suicide,' which is a really low standard of care," Cole said.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
No comments:
Post a Comment