International Human Rights Defense Act of 2014 - Directs the Secretary of State to establish in the Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Peoples who shall: (1) direct U.S. government efforts regarding human rights abuses against the LGBT community internationally and the advancement of human rights for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender) people in U.S. foreign policy, and (2) represent the United States internationally in bilateral and multilateral engagement on these matters.
Directs the Special Envoy to develop or update annually for six years a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to discrimination and violence against LGBT people.
Authorizes the Secretary and the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide assistance to prevent and respond to discrimination and violence against LGBT people.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2472 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2472
To establish in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the
Department of State a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT
Peoples.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 12, 2014
Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Boxer, Mr.
Cardin, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Warren, Mr. Merkley, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Hirono,
Mr. Durbin, Mr. Brown, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Booker,
Mr. Coons, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Franken, and Mrs. Shaheen)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the
Department of State a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT
Peoples.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``International Human Rights Defense
Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Gender identity.--The term ``gender identity'' means
the gender-related identity, appearance, or mannerisms or other
gender-related characteristics of an individual, with or
without regard to the individual's designated sex at birth.
(3) LGBT.--The term ``LGBT'' means lesbian, gay, bisexual,
or transgender.
(4) Sexual orientation.--The term ``sexual orientation''
means homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Eighty-two countries prohibit the public support of the
LGBT community, promote homophobia across society, or
criminalize homosexuality. That is equal to more than 40
percent of United Nations Member States.
(2) In seven countries, homosexuality is a crime that is
punishable by death.
(3) Around the world, LGBT people face discrimination,
hatred, violence, and bigotry.
(4) Violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation
and gender identity are documented in the Department of State's
annual Human Rights Report to Congress. The 2013 report
continues to show a clear pattern of increased human rights
violations in every region of the world based on sexual
orientation and gender identity. These violations include
murder, rape, torture, death threats, extortion, imprisonment,
as well as loss of employment, housing, access to health care,
and other forms of societal stigma and discrimination. The
report further documents growing LGBT-specific restrictions on
basic freedoms of assembly, press, and speech in every region
of the world.
(5) In Jamaica and other countries, discrimination against
LGBT people, including ``corrective rape'' of lesbian women,
occurs all too frequently and with relative impunity.
(6) In 2013, the Government of the Russian Federation and
others in the region passed laws banning ``Homosexual
Propaganda'', which effectively makes it a crime to publically
support LGBT equality.
(7) In February 2014, the Government of Uganda adopted a
law that makes ``aggravated homosexuality'' a crime punishable
with life imprisonment and endangers any individual arbitrarily
found to support LGBT people. Concurrently, the Government of
Uganda also passed laws severely limiting the basic freedoms of
speech and assembly for LGBT citizens.
(8) In December 2013, the Government of Nigeria adopted a
law further criminalizing homosexuality. The law also
criminalizes supporting LGBT people in any way, endangering the
neighbors, friends, doctors, and landlords of LGBT people.
(9) The anti-homosexuality laws in Nigeria and Uganda
potentially endanger all LGBT individuals in those countries.
In addition, international HIV workers could be at risk since
the study and treatment of at-risk populations may constitute
support for LGBT people.
(10) On December 6, 2011, President Barack Obama released
the Presidential Memorandum--International Initiatives to
Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Persons. The memorandum directed all Federal
agencies engaged abroad to ensure that United States diplomacy
and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of
LGBT persons.
(11) Secretary of State John Kerry has announced that the
United States Government will review United States diplomatic
relationships with Nigeria and Uganda in light of passage of
their recent anti-LGBT laws. On March 23, 2014, the Department
of State announced that the United States Government would cut
$6,400,000 in funding for the Interreligious Council of Uganda
because of its support for the Anti-Homosexuality Act, halt a
survey designed to minimize the spread of HIV/AIDS because of
potential harm to respondents, impose short-term travel bans on
Ugandan military officials, and halt some joint military
exercises with the military of Uganda.
(12) In December 2013, the Supreme Court of India reversed
a lower court ruling and reinstated the criminalization of
homosexuality in the second most populous nation on Earth. In
April 2014, India's Supreme Court recognized transgender people
as a third gender, improving the legal rights of transgender
people in that country. Given these two court decisions, the
degree of human rights protections for LGBT persons in India is
uncertain.
(13) Removing institutionalized discrimination and targeted
persecution against LGBT people around the world is a critical
step in the promotion of human rights and global health
internationally.
(14) According to the Trans Murder Monitoring Project,
which monitors homicides of transgender individuals, 238
transgender persons were killed between November 2012 and
November 2013 worldwide.
(15) According to the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS
and Human Rights, as published by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, countries should review and
reform criminal laws and correctional systems to ensure that
they are consistent with international human rights obligations
and are not misused in the context of HIV or targeted against
vulnerable groups.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to take effective action to prevent and respond to
discrimination and violence against all people on any basis
internationally, including sexual orientation and gender
identity, and that human rights policy include attention to
hate crimes and other discrimination against LGBT people;
(2) to systematically integrate and coordinate efforts to
prevent and respond to discrimination and violence against LGBT
people internationally into United States foreign policy;
(3) to support and build local capacity in countries around
the world, including of governments at all levels and
nongovernmental organizations, to prevent and respond to
discrimination and violence against LGBT people
internationally;
(4) to consult, cooperate, coordinate, and collaborate with
a wide variety of nongovernmental partners with demonstrated
experience in preventing and responding to discrimination and
violence against LGBT people internationally, including faith-
based organizations and LGBT-led organizations;
(5) to employ a multisectoral approach to preventing and
responding to discrimination and violence against LGBT people
internationally, including activities in the economic,
education, health, nutrition, legal, and judicial sectors;
(6) to work at all levels, from the individual to the
family, community, local, national, and international levels,
to prevent and respond to discrimination and violence against
LGBT people internationally;
(7) to enhance training by United States personnel of
professional foreign military and police forces and judicial
officials to include appropriate and thorough LGBT-specific
instruction on preventing and responding to discrimination and
violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity;
(8) to engage non-LGBT people as allies and partners, as an
essential element of making sustained reductions in
discrimination and violence against LGBT people;
(9) to require that all Federal contractors and grant
recipients in the United States Government's international
programs establish appropriate policies and take effective
measures to ensure the protection and safety of their staff and
workplace, including from discrimination and violence directed
against LGBT people and those who provide services to them;
(10) to exert sustained international leadership to prevent
and respond to discrimination and violence against LGBT
persons, including in bilateral and multilateral fora;
(11) to fully implement and expand upon the policies
outlined in the Presidential Memorandum--International
Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Persons;
(12) to ensure that international efforts to combat HIV/
AIDS take all appropriate measures to support at-risk
communities, including LGBT persons, and to create enabling
legal environments for these communities;
(13) to work with governments and nongovernmental partners
around the world to develop and implement regional strategies
to decriminalize homosexuality and to counteract the
prohibition of public support of the LGBT community; and
(14) to ensure that those who have a well-founded fear of
persecution on account of being LGBT or supporting LGBT rights
have the opportunity to seek protection in the United States.
SEC. 5. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF LGBT PEOPLE.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of State shall establish in the
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) of the Department of
State a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Peoples (in this
section referred to as the ``Special Envoy''), who shall be appointed
by the President. The Special Envoy shall report directly to the
Assistant Secretary for DRL.
(b) Purpose.--In addition to the duties described in subsection (c)
and those duties determined by the Secretary of State, the Special
Envoy shall direct efforts of the United States Government as directed
by the Secretary regarding human rights abuses against the LGBT
community internationally and the advancement of human rights for LGBT
people in United States foreign policy, and shall represent the United
States internationally in bilateral and multilateral engagement on
these matters.
(c) Duties.--
(1) In general.--The Special Envoy--
(A) shall direct activities, policies, programs,
and funding relating to the human rights of LGBT people
and the advancement of LGBT equality initiatives
internationally, for all bureaus and offices of the
Department of State and shall lead the coordination of
relevant international programs for all other Federal
agencies;
(B) shall represent the United States in diplomatic
matters relevant to the human rights of LGBT people,
including discrimination and violence against LGBT
people internationally;
(C) shall direct, as appropriate, United States
Government resources to respond to needs for
protection, integration, resettlement, and empowerment
of LGBT people in United States Government policies and
international programs, including to prevent and
respond to discrimination and violence against LGBT
people internationally;
(D) shall design, support, and implement activities
regarding support, education, resettlement, and
empowerment of LGBT people internationally, including
for the prevention and response to discrimination and
violence against LGBT people internationally;
(E) shall lead interagency coordination between the
foreign policy priorities related to the human rights
of LGBT people and the development assistance
priorities of the LGBT Coordinator of the United States
Agency for International Development;
(F) shall conduct regular consultation with civil
society organizations working to prevent and respond to
discrimination and violence against LGBT people
internationally;
(G) shall ensure that programs, projects, and
activities designed to prevent and respond to
discrimination and violence against LGBT people are
subject to rigorous monitoring and evaluation, and that
there is a uniform set of indicators and standards for
such monitoring and evaluation that is used across
international programs in Federal agencies;
(H) shall serve as the principal advisor to the
Secretary of State regarding human rights for LGBT
people internationally; and
(I) is authorized to represent the United States in
diplomatic and multilateral situations on matters
relevant to the human rights of LGBT people, including
discrimination and violence against LGBT people
internationally.
(2) Data repository.--The Bureau of Democracy, Human
Rights, and Labor shall--
(A) be the central repository of data on all United
States programs, projects, and activities that relate
to prevention and response to discrimination and
violence against LGBT people; and
(B) produce--
(i) a full accounting of United States
Government spending on such programs, projects,
and activities; and
(ii) evaluations of the effectiveness of
implemented programs.
SEC. 6. BRIEFINGS AND ASSESSMENTS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and annually thereafter, the Special Envoy shall brief the
appropriate congressional committees on the status of the human rights
of LGBT people internationally, as well as the status of programs and
response strategies to address LGBT discrimination and violence against
LGBT people internationally, and shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees an assessment of human and financial resources
necessary to fulfill the purposes and duties of this Act.
SEC. 7. UNITED STATES POLICY TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO DISCRIMINATION
AND VIOLENCE AGAINST LGBT PEOPLE GLOBALLY.
(a) Global Strategy Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for five
years, the Special Envoy shall develop or update a United States global
strategy to prevent and respond to discrimination and violence against
LGBT people globally. The strategy shall be transmitted to the
appropriate congressional committees and, if practicable, made
available to the public.
(b) Initial Strategy.--For the purposes of this section, the
Presidential Memorandum--International Initiatives to Advance the Human
Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons, issued
December 6, 2011, shall be deemed to fulfill the initial requirement of
subsection (a).
(c) Reporting.--In accordance with paragraph (13) of section 116(d)
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)), as added by
section 9(b), the Annual Report on Human Rights Practices shall include
detailed descriptions of nations that have adopted laws or
constitutions that discriminate against LGBT people.
(d) Collaboration and Coordination.--In developing the strategy
under subsection (a), the Special Envoy shall consult with--
(1) the heads of relevant Federal agencies; and
(2) representatives of civil society, multilateral, and
private sector organizations with demonstrated experience in
addressing discrimination and violence against LGBT people or
promoting equal rights for LGBT people internationally.
SEC. 8. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO PREVENT AND
RESPOND TO LGBT DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE AGAINST THE
LGBT COMMUNITY GLOBALLY.
The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development are authorized to provide
assistance to prevent and respond to discrimination and violence
against LGBT people internationally, including the following
activities:
(1) Development and implementation of programs, such as the
Global Equality Fund, that respond to human rights abuses and
economic exclusion of LGBT people in the workplace and in
public.
(2) Development and enforcement of civil and criminal legal
and judicial sanctions, protection, training, and capacity.
(3) Enhancement of the health sector capacity to detect,
prevent, and respond to violence against the LGBT community and
to combat HIV/AIDS in the LGBT community internationally, in
close coordination with the Office of the Global AIDS
Coordinator.
(4) Development of a leadership program for international
LGBT activists that will foster collaboration and knowledge
sharing across the world.
SEC. 9. MONITORING THE UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO
DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE AGAINST THE LGBT COMMUNITY
GLOBALLY.
(a) In General.--In each strategy submitted under section 7(a), the
Special Envoy shall include an analysis of best practices for
preventing and addressing discrimination and violence against LGBT
people internationally, which shall include--
(1) a description of successful efforts by foreign
governments, multilateral institutions, nongovernmental
organizations, educational organizations, and faith-based
organizations in preventing and responding to discrimination
and violence against LGBT people;
(2) recommendations related to best practices, effective
strategies, and improvements to enhance the impact of
prevention and response efforts; and
(3) the impact of activities funded by the strategy in
preventing and reducing discrimination and violence against
LGBT people internationally.
(b) Information Required To Be Included in Human Rights Practices
Report.--Section 116(d) (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 is amended--
(1) in paragraph (11)(C), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (12)(C)(ii), by striking the period at the
end and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(13) wherever applicable, the nature and extent of
discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation and
gender identity.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
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