The Pope’s Tone Softens — But The Vatican Is Still Fighting LGBT Rights Around The World

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lesterfeder/despite-popes-softening-tone-the-vatican-remains-a-key-oppon

NEW YORK — Pope Francis’ softening tone on LGBT issues does not appear to have been matched by a meaningful shift in policy in the realm of international diplomacy.

In two recent confrontations at United Nations headquarters in New York, the Vatican — a “permanent observer” with the almost all the same right that states have to participate in debates and closed negotiations — has held a hard line in fighting to preserve a narrow definition of the word “family” in international law. (It is one of only two entities with this status; the other is Palestine.)

“I cannot see a change [in Holy See diplomacy] that has trickled down” since Francis became pope, said one diplomat from a country that supports LGBT rights who asked to speak anonymously to discuss closed negotiations.

LGBT activists and supportive diplomats have been squaring off against Vatican diplomats at the U.N. as long as LGBT rights under international law have been at issue. And under Francis, the Holy See continues to play its longstanding role: inspiring opposition to LGBT rights proposals, crafting strategy, and articulating principles of international law to justify their exclusion.