Kaine Joins Colleagues To Press Administration On Discrimination Against LGBTQ Diplomats

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Chris Coons (D-DE) in calling on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to amend a new State Department policy that ends diplomatic visas for unmarried, same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and employees posted to the United States or at U.S.-based international organizations—sending a blatant message of discrimination to LGBTQ people around the world.

“To bar LGBTQ diplomats from bringing their partners to the United States is to condone the discriminatory policies of many countries around the world,” the Senators wrote. “This new rule discriminates against diplomats from countries where same-sex marriage is still illegal. This new policy could not only deter foreign diplomats from bringing their families to the United States, but threatens the progress made on this front.”

U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ben Cardin (D-MD) Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Edward Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Tina Smith (D-WI) joined Kaine, Merkley, Casey, and Coons in this effort.

A full copy of the letter can be found here. 

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