Rick Perry has condemned the Obama administration’s announcement that it will prioritize LGBT rights in its foreign policy, writing, “Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights“:

“This administration’s war on traditional American values must stop.

“I have proposed a foreign aid budget that starts at zero. From that zero baseline, we will consider aid requests based solely on America’s national security interests.

“But there is a troubling trend here beyond the national security nonsense inherent in this silly idea. This is just the most recent example of an administration at war with people of faith in this country. Investing tax dollars promoting a lifestyle many Americas of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong.

“President Obama has again mistaken America’s tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles. I will not make that mistake.”

Of course, the United States isn’t attacking people of faith. Rather, it is promising to pursue and protect universal human rights — which, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed out in a speech today, include the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender peoples. “[R]eligious belief and practice is a vital source of meaning and identity and fundamental to who we are as people and likewise for most of us the bonds of love and family that we forge are also vital sources of meaning and identity and caring for others is an expression of what it means to be fully human,” she said. “It is because the human experience is universal that Human Rights are universal and cut across all religions and cultures.”

A Georgia transgender woman has won her appeal that she was illegally fired for planning to make her gender transition. Vandy Beth Glenn had been a legislative editor in the Georgia General Assembly, but her supervisor, now-retired legislative counsel Sewell Brumby, testified that he found the thought of her transition “unsettling,” “unnatural,” and something that others would view as “immoral.” An 11th Circuit panel ruled that her termination constituted sex discrimination and the decision could have a far-reaching impact on protecting the rights of transgender people:

In each of these foundational cases, the Court concluded that discriminatory state action could not stand on the basis of gender stereotypes. The Court’s more recent cases reiterate that the Equal Protection Clause does not tolerate gender stereotypes. Accordingly, governmental acts based upon gender stereotypes–which presume that men and women’s appearance and behavior will be determined by their sex–must be subjected to heightened scrutiny because they embody “the very stereotype the law condemns.”

We conclude that a government agent violates the Equal Protection Clause’s prohibition of sex-based discrimination when he or she fires a transgender or transsexual employee because of his or her gender non-conformity.

The state could still appeal this decision to the full 11th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court.

It is worth noting that all three judges on the panel concurred, including Judge William H. Pryor. Pryor’s nomination to the bench was opposed by LGBT groups, who noted that he had filed an amicus brief supporting sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas. He also cast the deciding vote to oppose hearing a challenge to Florida’s law that banned gay people from adopting.

Recognizing that America’s own record on LGBT equality is “far from perfect,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on nations around the world to recognize that “gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights,” during a speech in Geneva, Switzerland this afternoon. Clinton’s address builds on a memorandum President Obama issued earlier today directing all agencies to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.”

Clinton also announced that the administration is launching a $3 million global equality fund to support the work of civil society organizations working on these issues around the world. The fund will help human rights groups “record facts so they can target their advocacy, learn how to use the law as a tool, manage their budgets, train their staffs and forge partnerships with women’s organizations and other Human Rights groups,” Clinton said.

Some highlights from the speech:

- “Like being a woman, like being a racial religious tribal or ethnic minority, being LGBT does not make you less human. And that is why gay rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are gay rights.”

- “Well, in reality, gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths; they are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes, and whether we know it or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends and our neighbors.”

- “Some believe homosexuality is a Western phenomenon… but gay people belong to every society in the world…. Being gay is not a Western invention, it is a human reality.”

- “In all countries, there are costs to not protecting these rights, in both gay and straight lives lost to disease and violence and the silencing of voices and views that would strengthen communities and ideas never pursued by entrepreneurs who happen to be gay. Costs are incurred whenever any group is treated as lesser or the other whether they are women, racial or religious minorities or the LGBT.”

- “Our commitment to protect the freedom of religion and defend LGBT people come from a common source… Human rights are universal and cut across all religions and cultures.”

- “It should never be a crime to be gay.”

- “To LGBT men and women worldwide: Wherever you live and whatever your circumstances… please know that you are not alone.”

- “Those who advocate for expanding the circle of human rights were and are on the right side of history, and history honors them… We are called once more to make real the words of the universal declaration. Let us be on the right side of history.”

Moments ago, President Obama issued a memorandum announcing that the fair treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people worldwide is a major priority of United States’ foreign policy and human rights advocacy. “I am deeply concerned by the violence and discrimination targeting LGBT persons around the world — whether it is passing laws that criminalize LGBT status, beating citizens simply for joining peaceful LGBT pride celebrations, or killing men, women, and children for their perceived sexual orientation,” Obama writes. “That is why I declared before heads of state gathered at the United Nations, “no country should deny people their rights because of who they love, which is why we must stand up for the rights of gays and lesbians everywhere.”

Some highlights from the document:

By this memorandum I am directing all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons. Specifically, I direct the following actions, consistent with applicable law:

Sec 1. Combating Criminalization of LGBT Status or Conduct Abroad: Agencies engaged abroad are directed to strengthen existing efforts to effectively combat the criminalization by foreign governments of LGBT status or conduct and to expand efforts to combat discrimination, homophobia, and intolerance on the basis of LGBT status or conduct.

Sec. 2. Protecting Vulnerable LGBT Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Those LGBT persons who seek refuge from violence and persecution face daunting challenges. In order to improve protection for LGBT refugees and asylum seekers at all stages of displacement, the Departments of State and Homeland Security shall enhance their ongoing efforts to ensure that LGBT refugees and asylum seekers have equal access to protection and assistance, particularly in countries of first asylum.

Sec. 3 Foreign Assistance to Protect Human Rights and Advance Nondiscrimination: Agencies involved with foreign aid, assistance, and development shall enhance their ongoing efforts to ensure regular Federal Government engagement with governments, citizens, civil society, and the private sector in order to build respect for the human rights of LGBT persons.

Sec. 4. Swift and Meaningful U.S. Responses to Human Rights Abuses of LGBT Persons Abroad.

Sec. 5. Engaging International Organizations in the Fight Against LGBT Discrimination.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will also deliver a major address from Geneva this afternoon, reiterating Obama’s message that eliminating discrimination is a common cause for all countries. Being gay is still a crime in over 80 nations around the world.

Last June, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva passed a formal resolution calling on all countries to combat violence and discrimination committed against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Movement Advancement Project has released its annual National LGBT Movement Report, which analyzes the financial documents of 40 prominent LGBT organizations. According to this year’s report, the number of individual donors to these groups constitutes at most 3 percent of the estimated LGBT population. Considering many of those donors are also heterosexual allies, the number is probably even lower.

As a result, organizations are relying more heavily on their largest contributors. The average LGBT organization receives 45 percent of its revenue from its 10 largest contributors, though this dependence is slightly lower for the largest groups. It’s alarming regardless — as the report points out, the top 10 anti-gay foes spend three times as much as all 40 advocacy groups considered in this analysis combined.

Despite concerns about donors, LGBT organizations continue to remain efficient in their fundraising and financially healthy overall. Read the full report for more details about the organizations leading the LGBT movement.

GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum engaged in a contentious discussion about same-sex marriage during a campaign stop at a Christian college in Sioux City, Iowa last night, after a student compared the senator’s position against marriage equality to prohibitions against interracial marriage. The student, 23-year-old Jason Kornelis, demanded to know how same-sex marriage would “be a hit to faith and family in America”:

“You can’t think of any consequence?” Santorum asked.

Kornelis answered that he did not.

Santorum then said that if same sex marriage was legalized then “their sexual activity” would be seen as “equal” to heterosexual relationships and it would be taught in schools.

“Really- wow- um okay, well let’s see if we can have a discussion. We can flesh out some, well, let’s look at what’s going to be taught in our schools because now we have same sex couples being the same and their sexual activity being seen as equal and being affirmed by society as heterosexual couples and their activity,” Santorum said.

“So what is going to be taught to our people in health class in our schools? What is going to be taught to our children about who in our stories, even to little children — what are married couples? What families look like in America? So, you are going to have in our curriculum spread throughout our curriculum worldview that is fundamentally different than what is taught in schools today? Is that not a consequence of gay marriage?” he GOP hopeful asked.

Of course, it’s unclear why teaching children to respect students regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity would disadvantage society, particularly since teaching about diversity leads to more tolerance for gay, lesbian, and transgender students, who often feel marginalized and bullied in schools.