HRC Applauds Appointment of Randy Berry as State Department’s First Ever LGBT Human Rights Envoy (5)

http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/hrc-applauds-appointment-of-randy-berry-as-state-departments-first-ever-lgb This article, "HRC Applauds Appointment of Randy Berry as State Department’s First Ever LGBT Human Rights Envoy," by Kerrie Brody, was posted on February 23, 2015. On Monday, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) celebrated the State Department's first LGBT Human Rights Envoy, Randy Berry, a veteran senior U.S. Foreign Service Officer. This new post was created by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. Berry's new job is to serve as an overseer of what the United States government is doing to help further LGBT causes. HRC President Chad Griffin wrote Kerry, asking him to take this step. The move was backed up by over 26,000 HRC supporters and members. This year, HRC worked closely with the offices of Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Representative Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) to introduce the International Human Rights Defense Act (S.302 / H.R. 590) which would create the position through legislative action. This relates to what we are studying in class because of the interest group and media topics that we have been studying. The HRC is the largest LGBT civil rights and lobbying group in the United States. The support that Griffin received from HRC supporters would not have been possible without media, because people wouldn't have known about the developments without the use of media and social networking. I applaud the new envoy; so many LGBT people in the US are discriminated against every day, and we deserve a government that cares about and protects all of our citizens. This is a revolutionary move, and I hope that our government will continue to make a change for the better.