Panel: What responsibilities do LGBT Americans have in advancing equality in other countries?

Pieter Tolsma, George Gramer and Keo Frazier weigh in on this week’s question.

Keo Frazier

Everyone should experience equality and here is my case for why.

One definition of humanity is the quality or state of being humane. Another definition of humanity means the totality of human beings. Merging these two definitions together suggests that humanity means that all human beings should preserve the state of being human by being humane to each other.

Our human responsibility is to preserve humanity by being responsible for and taking care of each other — all humans. We are meant to show compassion and sympathy for each other — all of us. There isn’t a subhead that bullets a certain subset of humans by race, color, gender, identity or culture. All humans have a responsibility to help in advancing equality for all humans, across all nations, because of the sheer humanity of the idea. Equality is the demonstration of humanity at its best, our best. Equality is not a privilege or a right; it is just human.

A lofty idea, indeed.

Is it nobler to seek to preserve humanity by helping others to advance and other nations to evolve, or complaining how terrible everyone is elsewhere? A teacher once told me, “instead of talking about it, you should be about it.” So, let’s be about humanity and seek justice and equality for everyone, not just our own back yard.

Perhaps our founding fathers were not so far-fetched in their ideas of justice and equality. So, I challenge you to be about it and make this idea of global equality not such a lofty idea, after all.

Keo Frazier is the fearless leader and founder of KEOS Marketing Group.

George Gramer

We as individuals need to be vocal, but we also need to be careful. There are places I will not travel, some due to my past career, and some due to my personal life as a gay American.

While it is as inappropriate for our government to intercede in the laws of another country (as it is for another country to intervene in ours), advancing equality worldwide will only be achieved when the U.S. government puts a firm grip on some clear disparities.

Recently the homophobic Russian laws affecting the Sochi Olympics have received a lot of press attention. All our U.S. Olympians have been very tight-lipped about their anger toward the Russian Parliament’s homophobia, and rightfully so — and there is a rightful fear among the LGBT athletes among them. The Obama administration has been equally tight-lipped on this. Clearly, this is because the Putin-Obama relationship has been ice cold of late.

No one in media focuses on the fact that countries of North Africa and the Middle East are not at all gay friendly either. In fact, some kill LGBT people. The Muslin Brotherhood’s genocidal position on homosexuality is quite clear. Iran’s Constitution mandates death for gays, and the Iranian Islamic regime has regularly carried out public hangings of gay men.

Where is the Obama administration’s outrage and condemnation of this? President Obama has never criticized Islamic law, and he shows no inclination to do so, no matter what human rights abuses are committed in Islam’s name. Until the pusillanimous Obama administration gets the balls to speak out, our balls will continue to be cut off.

Iowa native George K. Gramer, Jr. is the president of the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans.

Pieter Tolsma

In my experience, it’s a difficult challenge being the only one willing to raise your voice against a group. Being the only one who thinks you deserve equal rights and consideration is a very lonely place to be. I can only imagine this becomes much more difficult when you are put into a corner and doing your best to defend your own rights at the nose of a gun barrel or under threat of a pair of handcuffs.

One of the few upsides of the situation at the Russian Winter Olympic Games for me is the response from many members of the world community. If it was only LGBT Americans or even LGBT world citizens who were angry and demonstrating then I would still be honored to be part, but still disappointed. The movement on an international level to demonstrate and demand change warms my heart. It still seems too little, too late, but the desire is still there.

As for LGBT Americans, I think we owe it to ourselves and those who share our lifestyle and experiences abroad to raise our voices. If we find ourselves unaware of the plight of LGBT in Uganda, Saudi Arabia and Sudan then we are failing. I believe that if we have the power to help them, we owe it to ourselves and humanity as a whole to speak up for those pain we understand but who cannot or don’t dare speak for themselves.

Pieter Tolsma is the program coordinator of Denver PIQUE, a program for gay/bi young men in Denver.