Trump administration bars visas for same-sex partners of foreign diplomats, U.N. employees, citing equality

U.N. Globe holds a gay-rights event in Kenya — (Image credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images)

On Monday, the Trump administration started denying diplomatic visas to non-married domestic partners of gay foreign diplomats and United Nations employees. Foreign diplomats and U.N. employees already in the U.S. must get married by Dec. 31 or their partners will be forced to leave the country within 30 days. The policy change, announced in July, was portrayed by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations as a step forward for equality, noting that "same-sex spouses of U.S. diplomats now enjoy the same rights and benefits as opposite-sex spouses."

In 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opted to grant visas to domestic partners of gay U.S. and foreign diplomats, but not heterosexual domestic partners. After the landmark 2015 Supreme Court case recognizing a national right to same-sex marriage, the U.S. started issuing diplomatic visas only to married spouses of U.S. diplomats, regardless of sexual orientation. This new policy brings the visa rules for foreign diplomats in line with the U.S. rules for U.S. diplomats.

The problem, as former U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power noted on Twitter, is that "only 12 percent of U.N. member states allow same-sex marriage." And diplomats from the other 88 percent of nations won't be able to bring their partners to the U.S. or, if they get married in the U.S., could face prosecution upon returning home. "With this change, the State Department is enforcing parity in the way they recognize opposite-sex partnerships and same-sex partnerships," said U.N. Globe, an LGBT advocacy group for U.N. staff. "It is an unfortunate change in rules, since same-sex couples, unlike opposite-sex couples, have limited choices when it comes to marriage."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.