Thank you and good morning.  I want to first recognize Virginia Bennett for your leadership and my colleague, Todd Larson, our USAID Senior LGBT Coordinator.  The two of you make a great team, and we’re excited to be able to participate in this session.

I also want to recognize Secretary Kerry and Councilor Shannon.  As you undoubtedly heard from Tom Shannon on Wednesday, the Secretary’s commitment here is well known and spans decades.  And so, we welcome you to the State Department with that in spirit.

I’d also like to note the Council for Global Equality and Ambassador Michael Guest and members from more than 30 countries who are participating in this two-day conference here at the Department of State.

It really is an honor to join you.  Over the past few days, you’ve covered an array of critically important issues.  I know you have plans to take this work forward into next year.  But from engaging with faith leaders to seeding the startups of LGBT entrepreneurs, your efforts will make a real difference in helping to expand rights and justice across our populations to every citizen. 

It’s outstanding to see the growth of this initiative.  I remember last year and before when there were fewer countries represented.  Now I know you have nearly 30, and that’s very exciting.  And it’s a sign of our collective commitment to stand up for the dignity and rights of every individual and to face down entrenched discrimination in the world’s most vulnerable communities.

I have most recently seen the consequences of such extraordinary discrimination in the context of an effort President Obama has asked us to lead in West Africa, which is the fight against the Ebola virus. More than 14,000 people have been infected, more than 5,000 have died, and even today there are actually more than 3,000 people, we believe, have active Ebola virus.  And whenever moments like this arise, when there are moments of fear and panic that result from a lack of information, we sometimes do see that those types of situations create an environment where sometimes the worst instincts of folks can become very real. 

And in the context of our work in Liberia and Sierra Leone and Guinea, we know that there has been discrimination against LGBT communities, who some have even inappropriately blamed for – or indicated might be the cause of the Ebola virus disease.  Which, of course, is extraordinarily false, completely inappropriate, and just highlights how important it is to get good information out, and how in everything we do we need to be sensitive to—and understand—vulnerability and protect everyone’s rights and everyone’s access to services and to solutions.

So I’m pleased that you’ve taken on this work and done it so well.  Your efforts will ensure the children who aspire to be doctors, entrepreneurs, or political leaders, don’t get left on the sidelines.  Your efforts will ensure that entire communities, like we’re seeing in Monrovia and other places affected with Ebola, overcome their prejudice and build more coherence and more honesty and more justice in their societies. 

And we know that the effects of discrimination are real across the board, and we know that they hold entire societies back.  I was actually surprised to learn but not surprised to know that in fact, there are now studies that show the impact of discrimination on GDP growth, on economic development, on efforts to reduce poverty in places like India and all around the world.  So your efforts, hopefully, are even more now underpinned by a sense of global commitment and by a science and understanding of the consequences of discrimination that can continually broaden the pool of people who will come to this meeting, this conference, year after year, no matter where you choose to host it.

And that’s why the United States, under President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and now Secretary Kerry, have been pioneering efforts to ensure that our foreign policy is infused with a sense of justice when it comes to equal opportunities and equal rights for LGBT individuals.  Our efforts have been grounded in a new model of development and diplomacy that focuses on innovation, local leadership, people-to-people partnerships, and public-private engagements.  As part of this new approach, we launched last summer our first ever LGBT Vision for Action, and at the direction of President Obama, the Vision establishes a set of principles and specific activities to advance equality and work to ensure that our efforts to end poverty prioritize social justice. 

For example, we’re conducting mapping exercises to identify local leaders and local organizations that can serve as agents of change in their communities, no matter how far-flung those communities may be.

We’re also exploring new partnerships using mobile phone apps, social media campaigns, engaging young people, and expanding our outstanding LGBT Global Development Partnership, an unprecedented investment to strengthen engagement between citizens and their governments.  I was proud to be part of the launching of this initiative that brought together partners like Swedish Sida, our counterparts in Sweden, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, the Williams Institute, the Victory Fund, and many others.

As just one example of what this partnership is doing in Colombia, we’ve trained dozens of LGBT political activists on how to run successful social justice campaigns.  One of them has since become Colombia’s first openly gay elected official at the federal level.  Similar activities are taking place in 15 other countries and are reaching more than 500 beneficiaries in terms of political training and social justice community building.

We also are working with UNDP to run “Being LGBT in Asia,” a landmark effort to conduct cutting-edge research on the challenges faced by the region’s LGBT communities—from China, to Cambodia, to Vietnam.

And perhaps most importantly, we’re ensuring that our work and our culture in our own organizations reflect these basic values.  Equality in our workplace is a critical priority for me, for Secretary Kerry, and for all of us.  So far, we’ve conducted LGBT 101 trainings that have been taken by more than 1,000 local staff in more than 30 countries around the world with respect – that have USAID missions with large foreign service national populations.

Todd, I’m sure if he hasn’t already shared with you, will share with you his experience observing and being part of these trainings here in Washington and how effective they are when they get people together to build personal connections, share their stories, and learn from each other.

And that’s particularly important for USAID because we are a mission-driven organization.  Our mission is to end extreme poverty around the world, to promote rights and democracy, sometimes in tough settings.  And that attracts a special kind of employee to our organization; and the more we can discuss, dialogue, and build the right culture, the more we know we are actually espousing in our day-to-day work the values we hold so dear so that everyone has rights and opportunity.

And to take this forward today, we’re taking these efforts to another level by announcing a Joint Communique on LGBTI Human Rights.  To be signed by more than 20 countries, the communique will enable us to share best practices, improve international coordination, and advance a sustainable, community-based approach to our work.

We think because we now have years of experience, we have something to share.  And I look forward to hearing later from my colleagues from other countries, I think that are joining by video.  I look forward to learning more about what you will do as a community together.  I look forward to this group expanding as you get into next year, and I look forward to your efforts really putting into practice what President Obama said when he said that we are a country which believes that, and I quote, “No matter what you look like, where you come from, what your last name is, or who you love, you’ve got a chance to make it if you try.”

Thank you.  (Applause.)