“A bill to establish in the Department of State a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ People, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states 17 congressional findings on global criminalization, violence, discrimination, and stigma against LGBTQI+ persons, including that 64 countries criminalize same-sex relations, 42 UN member states (roughly 35%) restrict expression on sexual and gender diversity, and 11 countries impose the death penalty for consensual same-sex activity; barriers to health care, asylum, and association; at least 350 transgender and gender-diverse murders worldwide from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024 (73% in Latin America and the Caribbean); and U.S. policy actions such as presidential memoranda (2011 and 2021), State Department special envoys (2015 and 2021), and UN Human Rights Council resolutions (2016).
This section establishes U.S. policy to prevent and respond to discrimination, violence, and criminalization against LGBTQI+ people internationally, including by (1) integrating such efforts into foreign policy; (2) building local capacity of governments and nongovernmental organizations; (3) consulting with diverse partners, including faith-based and LGBTQI+-led organizations; (4) employing a multisectoral approach across economic, education, health, legal, and other sectors; (5) enhancing training for foreign military, police, and judicial officials; (6) engaging non-LGBTQI+ allies; (7) requiring nondiscrimination policies inclusive of sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics for all federal funding recipients; (8) exerting leadership in bilateral and multilateral fora; (9) ensuring HIV/AIDS efforts support LGBTQI+ communities; (10) developing regional strategies to decriminalize homosexuality and counter restrictions on LGBTQI+ rights; and (11) providing asylum opportunities for those facing persecution on account of being LGBTQI+ or supporting LGBTQI+ rights.
This section establishes in the Department of State a permanent Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ People, appointed by the President at the rank of Ambassador by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Special Envoy serves as principal advisor to the Secretary of State on international LGBTQI+ human rights; directs Department activities, policies, programs, and funding on such matters notwithstanding other laws; coordinates relevant U.S. government policies and programs across federal agencies; represents the United States in bilateral and multilateral forums; directs resources for protection, integration, resettlement, and empowerment of LGBTQI+ people internationally; leads interagency coordination; and conducts regular consultations with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Not later than 180 days after enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Special Envoy must brief appropriate congressional committees on the status of international LGBTQI+ human rights and social inclusion and U.S. government programs and strategies addressing criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+ people. Not later than 180 days after enactment, and biannually thereafter, the Special Envoy must develop or update a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to such criminalization, discrimination, and violence—consulting relevant federal agencies and NGOs, submitting it to congressional committees, and making it public if practicable—with each strategy including an analysis of promising practices by foreign governments and NGOs, related recommendations, and assessments of funded activities' impacts.
This section amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (1) in Section 116(d), by adding a new paragraph (13) requiring the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices to include, wherever applicable, the nature and extent of criminalization, discrimination, and violence by state and non-state actors based on sexual orientation or gender identity (as defined in section 7 of the International Human Rights Defense Act of 2025) or sex characteristics, including identification and descriptions of countries' laws or constitutional provisions that criminalize or discriminate on such bases; and (2) in Section 502B, by adding a new subsection (k) requiring the same information in reports on human rights practices of countries receiving security assistance. (Thus, the reports inform congressional oversight and restrictions on foreign assistance to governments engaged in gross human rights violations.)
This section authorizes the Secretary of State to provide assistance to prevent and respond to criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+ people internationally by (1) developing and implementing assistance programs that respond to human rights abuses against, and the social and economic exclusion of, LGBTQI+ people; (2) supporting and building capacity for the development and enforcement of foreign governments' laws pertaining to relevant civil and criminal legal and judicial sanctions, protection, and training; (3) enhancing health sector capacity (A) to detect, prevent, and respond to violence against LGBTQI+ people and communities internationally and (B) to combat HIV/AIDS in the LGBTQI+ community internationally, in coordination with the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy of the Department of State; and (4) developing a leadership program for international LGBTQI+ activists that fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing around the world.
This section defines key terms for purposes of the Act, including: (1) "appropriate congressional committees" as the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senate Committee on Appropriations, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and House Committee on Appropriations; (2) "gender identity" as the gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other gender-related characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individual's designated sex at birth; (3) "intersex" as individuals born with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads, or chromosome patterns) that vary from typical binary notions of male or female bodies; (4) "LGBTQI+" as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex; and (5) "sexual orientation" as actual or perceived homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality.