Today, the United States voted against a United Nations resolution condemning the death penalty for LGBTQ people. In voting against the measure, the United States was joined by countries with abysmal human rights records, including China, Qatar, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has not released a statement as to why she decided to vote against protecting members of the LGBT community.
The move is not a surprise considering the Trump Administration is also responsible for directing the military to ban transgender service members, arguing that the 1964 Civil Rights Act does not include protections for workers based on their sexual orientation, and appointing anti-gay Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. In her brief tenure, Haley herself has shown reluctance to condemn anti-gay violence abroad.
Haley was recently named by TIME as one of the ‘women changing the world’ — evidently, just not for the better. Rather than lead the world in support for human rights, Haley showed that she is more concerned with keeping her spot in the tumultuous Trump Administration.
Her willingness to play politics with the lives of LGBT individuals deserves nothing but contempt.