In July, the United Nations was given orders to not issue G-4 visas to same-sex diplomats whose relationships are not recognized by their native country's government. The giving of the visas was a policy created by Hillary Clinton. If you want to read more about the recent decision, check out Randy Slovacek's article "Trump Administration Will No Longer Grant Visas To Same-Sex Partners Of Diplomats." Many people thought that this decision was unfair as the majority of countries do noy recognize same-sex relationships as legitimate, so denying spousal visas to diplomats from those countries creates discriminatory policies. Under this new policy, diplomats' partners would have to show proof of legal marriage or leave the US within thirty days. The problem with this, of course, is that the diplomats and their partners can't get married to each other in either the US or their country of origin, so it is almost guaranteed that the diplomats' partners would have to return to their home country that does not have protections of LGBTQ people.
However, things are getting done to reverse this decision. Twenty Democratic senators beseeched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reinstate the issuing of the G-4 visas, as denying diplomats whose relationships are not recognized in other countries, the UN is setting an unfair and discriminatory precedent, according to Politico.
Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and Chris Coon of Delaware are heading this movement to reverse the decision, writing letters to Pompeo that recognize how discriminatory this new policy is and showing that barring partners of diplomats from entering the US goes directly against the equality that LGBTQ people have earned in the US, and instead, closely mirrors the discriminatory practices of the countries in which same-sex marriages aren't recognized. Out of 69 countries that criminalize same-sex relationships, in 10 of them, LGBTQ are met with the death penalty for their sexual orientation.
With the ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, the United States showed the world that it is a country that favors equal rights for all citizens (although sometimes it doesn't seem like it) but with this new decision, the US government reverted back to a time when things weren't so equal. The United States has a great deal of influence in the world, and by creating discriminatory policies, we are showing the world that the people running the US government think that it's acceptable to discriminate.
It's not.
h/t: Politico