Tony Perkins Signals US to Abandon LGBTQ Rights Abroad
Religious extremism at the heart of Trump administration
Contradicting previous Trump Administration announcements, Tony Perkins, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, has signaled that the US will not pressure foreign governments to end criminalization of homosexuality. Perkins is a prominent evangelical minister with strong working ties to the White House. Whether or not he represents official administration positions, his thoughts track closely with top Trump lieutenants. Religious liberty for them seems to be code for privileging conservative Christianity. The impact of that thinking extends far beyond LGBTQ equality, threatening cherished freedoms for broad swathes of Americans.
America respects everyone, but it won’t promote values that are inconsistent with what this president stands for. — Tony Perkins
In a post on Monday to the website of the ant-LGBTQ Family Research Council (FRC), which he leads, Tony Perkins spoke out against a US ambassador who protested the government of Zambia’s actions in imprisoning two gay men for having consensual sex. In the blog post, Perkins makes it clear that he believes the Trump administration opposes pressuring…
