Trump Admin Blocks Visas for Same-Sex Partners of UN Diplomats

In the Trump administration's latest move against LGBTQ people, they're blocking visas for unmarried same-sex spouses of UN employees. The State Department released a statement on Monday:

"Effective immediately, US embassies and consulates will adjudicate visa applications that are based on a same-sex marriage in the same way that we adjudicate applications for opposite gender spouses."

This means that partners of UN employees would need to get married or face deportation. Currently, there are 10 UN employees in the US that would be affected by this policy, which will also affect the staffs of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Only 25 of the 193 countries that belong to the UN have legalized same-sex marriage, and homosexuality is still illegal in around 69 countries, with several still enforcing the death penalty.

"With same-sex marriage legal in only about 10 percent of UN member countries, LGBTQ diplomats could be forced to leave their posts or their partners," said Democratic National Committee LGBTQ Media Director, Lucas Acosta. "Instead of providing moral leadership on LGBTQ rights and freedoms, the Trump administration is essentially subjecting diplomats to the same discriminatory, anti-LGBTQ policies that they face in their own countries. The Trump administration must reverse this discriminatory action."

The policy rolls back the work of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.