I feel like this has to be cleared up a bit. There are plenty of people on DKos who suspect that Hillary hasn't been the best on LGBT rights - and domestically, leaning on the 'state's rights' argument certainly isn't the best. But - as with many things, there's more to it than that. Curiously enough, the 3k emails that State just released speak of her departmental and international efforts on gay rights. Follow below the squiggle for more.
This isn't going to be a long diary, I just wanted to clear some things up. From the Daily Beast:
The 2009 emails offer a look at how Clinton and her staff began to make LGBT individuals part of their mission—culminating in her 2011 United Nations speech declaring, “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.”
After Clinton sent a memo extending the benefits, Mills and longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin forwarded their boss the glowing coverage of the policy change, as well as a letter from a State Department employee.
“Thank you so much for your support for the GLT community,” wrote Michael Pate, a State Department employee based in Virginia. “This is the first time in my 24.5 year career that I have seen this type of support. I appreciate all the hard work you have done in the short time as Secretary of State. You have given so much hope to so many. I am so proud of you and your work. May God continue to bless you.”
Still, to those who worked and advocated at the State Department for LGBT rights, the moves in 2009 set the tone for a very pro-LGBT State Department.
“I know she advanced things for LGBT State Department employees, but her impact was much greater in terms of setting a global policy agenda,” Socarides told The Daily Beast. “We have never had a champion before in this arena.”
Huffpost Backs this up further -
The rise of anti-gay initiatives globally had been on Clinton's radar for some time, and emails show that she and her team were looking for ways to address them.
On July 6, 2009, Socarides sent a BBC News article to Cheryl Mills, Clinton's chief of staff, about how some gay Iraqis preferred life under Saddam Hussein compared to the violence they currently faced. Mills sent it to Clinton.
"So sad and terrible," Clinton replied. "We should ask Chris Hill [U.S. ambassador to Iraq] to raise this w govt. If we ever get [Michael] Posner confirmed [as assistant secretary of State for democracy, human rights and labor] we should emphasize LGBT human rights."
Anyway, Clinton was really the first person to bring LGBT rights as Human rights to the international
community's attention. This was a big, big deal, and often lost in the noise.