International Human Rights Defense Act of 2023
This bill establishes in the Department of State a permanent Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex) Peoples who shall serve as the principal State Department advisor regarding human rights for LGBTQI+ people and represent the United States in diplomatic matters relevant to the human rights of LGBTQI+ people.
The special envoy shall periodically provide Congress with a U.S. global strategy to prevent and respond to criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+ people. The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development may provide assistance to prevent and respond to such activities against LGBTQI+ people.
The bill also requires that specified annual country reports on human rights practices include information on criminalization, discrimination, and violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1007 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1007
To establish in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the
Department of State a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+
Peoples, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 28, 2023
Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Hickenlooper,
Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Whitehouse, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Carper, Ms. Smith, Ms.
Hassan, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Welch,
Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Padilla, Mrs. Murray, Ms.
Klobuchar, 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 LGBTQI+
Peoples, and for other purposes.
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 2023''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Around the world, LGBTQI+ people face violence, stigma,
and discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender
identity, or sex characteristics.
(2) Sixty-seven countries have national laws that
criminalize same-sex relations and at least 42 United Nations
member states have legal barriers for freedom of expression on
issues related to sexual and gender diversity. That is equal to
roughly 35 percent of United Nations member states.
(3) Eleven countries have jurisdictions in which the death
penalty can be imposed for private, consensual same-sex sexual
activity.
(4) Despite recent progress made toward decriminalization,
marriage equality, and legal gender recognition, several
countries have introduced anti-LGBTQI+ pieces of legislation
that would further criminalize or stigmatize LGBTQI+ peoples.
This includes a draconian law under review in Ghana that would
outlaw LGBTQI+ relationships or identities, as well as actions
by community allies, and bills that ban so-called LGBTQI+
``propaganda'', such as those in Russia and Hungary.
(5) In anti-LGBTQI+ prosecutions, law enforcement
officials, working in tandem with medical personnel, use the
forensically discredited practice of forced anal exams to try
to prove same-sex sexual activity or otherwise to torture or
intimidate detainees. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on
Torture has described forced anal examinations as a form of
torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and the
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
issued a report in 2015 calling for governments to ban the
practice. Human Rights Watch has documented several cases in
which forced anal examinations have been used to sentence
individuals for same-sex sexual conduct, including in
Uzbekistan and Egypt.
(6) The closing of civil society space, particularly with
the increased passage or enforcement of laws that prevent the
registration or operations of nongovernmental organizations,
discriminates against LGBTQI+ human rights defenders and is a
violation of freedom of association. This includes the wrongful
closure of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a leading
nongovernmental organization committed to protecting and
advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ individuals in Uganda.
(7) Extreme violence and insecurity in El Salvador,
Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras has driven LGBTQI+ people to
flee their countries of origin to the United States for
protection. At the United States border with Mexico, LGBTQI+
asylum seekers face additional violence and many have been
returned to face persecution in their home countries or in
third countries that are not safe.
(8) Studies have shown that structural risks, including
country-level policies, prosecutions, and legal barriers, might
contribute to higher HIV prevalence among LGBTQI+ people,
especially gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.
Decriminalization, decreasing enforcement, and stigma reduction
are necessary to effective control of HIV.
(9) The Trans Murder Monitoring Project, which monitors
homicides of transgender individuals, documented at least 327
trans and gender-diverse people killed between October 1, 2021,
and September 30, 2022. Of these cases, 68 percent of all of
the murders occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean, with
29 percent of the total occurring in Brazil.
(10) Intersex people experience prejudice and
discrimination, including the common performance of medically
unnecessary surgeries without their consent or approval,
because their bodies do not conform to other people's
expectations about sex and gender.
(11) Violence and discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity are documented in the
Department of State's annual Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices. The report covering 2021 continues to show a clear
pattern of human rights violations or abuses in every region of
the world based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex
characteristics. These violations or abuses include murder,
rape, torture, death threats, extortion, and imprisonment, as
well as loss of employment, housing, access to health care, and
other forms of societal stigma and discrimination. The reports
further document LGBTQI+-specific restrictions on basic
freedoms of assembly, press, and speech in every region of the
world.
(12) 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.
(13) On February 4, 2021, President Joe Biden issued a
similar memorandum, the ``Memorandum on Advancing the Human
Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and
Intersex Persons Around the World'', to promote and protect the
human rights of LGBTQI+ persons and establish that it is the
``policy of the United States to pursue an end to violence and
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender
identity or expression, or sex characteristics, and to lead by
the power of our example in the cause of advancing the human
rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world''.
(14) On February 23, 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry
appointed senior diplomat Randy Berry as the Department of
State's first-ever Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI
Persons. No person was named to that position during the Trump
Administration.
(15) On June 25, 2021, President Joe Biden announced the
appointment of Jessica Stern to serve as the United States
Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons.
She joined the Department of State on September 27, 2021.
(16) On June 30, 2016, the United Nations Human Rights
Council passed a resolution cosponsored by the United States
that established an Independent Expert on violence and
discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity
to help monitor and track discrimination and violence
experienced by LGBTQI+ persons around the world.
(17) In May 2020, the United Nations Independent Expert on
protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual
orientation and gender identity released a report on so-called
``conversion therapy'', which is an umbrella term used to
describe interventions based on a belief that a person's sexual
orientation or gender identity can and should be changed. The
report concluded that such practices represent significant
violations of rights to personal autonomy, health, and free
expression and are ``by their very nature degrading, inhuman
and cruel and create a significant risk of torture''. The
Independent Expert noted ``the psychological pain and suffering
inflicted by practices of `conversion therapy' are deep and
long-lasting and often exacerbate the risk of suicide,'' and
called for a global ban on conversion therapy.
(18) On June 15, 2022, President Joe Biden signed an
Executive Order in part directing the Secretary of State, in
collaboration with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary
of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development, to develop
an action plan to promote an end to so-called ``conversion
therapy'' around the world and ensure that United States
foreign assistance dollars do not fund the practice.
SEC. 3. 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, gender identity,
and sex characteristics, and that human rights policy includes
attention to criminalization, violence, and other
discrimination against LGBTQI+ people;
(2) to systematically integrate and coordinate into United
States foreign policy efforts to prevent and respond to
criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+
people internationally;
(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
criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+
people internationally;
(4) to consult, cooperate, coordinate, and collaborate with
a wide variety of nongovernmental partners, including faith-
based organizations and LGBTQI+-led organizations, with
demonstrated experience in preventing and responding to
criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+
people internationally;
(5) to employ a multisectoral approach to preventing and
responding to criminalization, discrimination, and violence
against LGBTQI+ 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 criminalization, discrimination, and
violence against LGBTQI+ 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 LGBTQI+-specific
instruction on preventing and responding to criminalization,
discrimination, and violence based on sexual orientation and
gender identity;
(8) to engage non-LGBTQI+ people as allies and partners, as
an essential element of making sustained reductions in
criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+
people internationally;
(9) to require that all Federal contractors and grant
recipients awarded a contract or receiving a grant, as the case
may be, under an international program of the United States
Government 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 LGBTQI+ people and those who provide services to them;
(10) to exert sustained international leadership, including
in bilateral and multilateral fora, to prevent and respond to
criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+
people internationally;
(11) to fully implement and expand upon the policies
outlined in the ``Presidential Memorandum--Advancing the Human
Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and
Intersex Persons Around the World'';
(12) to ensure that international efforts to combat HIV/
AIDS take all appropriate measures to support at-risk
communities, including LGBTQI+ people, 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 other
restrictions on the human rights of LGBTQI+ people, including
restrictions on LGBTQI+ organizations and so-called LGBTQ+
propaganda laws; and
(14) to ensure that those who have a well-founded fear of
persecution on account of being LGBTQI+ or supporting LGBTQI+
rights have the opportunity to seek protection in the United
States.
SEC. 4. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF LGBTQI+ PEOPLE.
(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of State shall establish in
the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) of the
Department of State a permanent Special Envoy for the Human
Rights of LGBTQI+ 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 Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
(2) Rank.--The President may appoint the Special Envoy at
the rank of Ambassador, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate.
(b) Purpose.--In addition to the duties described in subsection (c)
and those duties determined by the President and the Secretary of
State, the Special Envoy shall direct efforts of the United States
Government relating to United States foreign policy, as directed by the
President and the Secretary, regarding human rights abuses against
LGBTQI+ people and communities internationally and the advancement of
human rights for LGBTQI+ people, and shall represent the United States
internationally in bilateral and multilateral engagement on such
matters.
(c) Duties.--The Special Envoy--
(1) shall serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary
of State regarding the human rights of LGBTQI+ people
internationally; and
(2) at the direction of the Secretary of State--
(A) shall, notwithstanding any other provision of
law, direct activities, policies, programs, and funding
relating to the human rights of LGBTQI+ people and the
advancement of LGBTQI+ 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 relating to such matters;
(B) shall represent the United States in diplomatic
matters, including in bilateral and multilateral fora,
relevant to the human rights of LGBTQI+ people,
including criminalization, discrimination, and violence
against LGBTQI+ people internationally;
(C) shall direct, as appropriate, United States
Government resources to respond to needs for
protection, integration, resettlement, and empowerment
of LGBTQI+ people in United States Government policies
and international programs, including to prevent and
respond to criminalization, discrimination, and
violence against LGBTQI+ people internationally;
(D) shall design, support, and implement activities
regarding support, education, resettlement, and
empowerment of LGBTQI+ people internationally,
including for the prevention and response to
criminalization, discrimination, and violence against
LGBTQI+ people internationally;
(E) shall lead interagency coordination between the
foreign policy priorities related to the human rights
of LGBTQI+ people and the development assistance
priorities of the LGBTQI+ Coordinator of the United
States Agency for International Development; and
(F) shall conduct regular consultation with
nongovernmental organizations working to prevent and
respond to criminalization, discrimination, and
violence against LGBTQI+ people internationally.
(d) Briefings and Assessments.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Special
Envoy shall provide to the appropriate congressional committees a
briefing on the status of the human rights of LGBTQI+ people
internationally, as well as on the status of programs and response
strategies of the United States Government to address criminalization,
discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+ people internationally.
(e) United States Policy To Prevent and Respond to Criminalization,
Discrimination, and Violence Against LGBTQI+ People Globally.--
(1) Global strategy requirement.--Not later than 180 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually
thereafter for each of the following five years, the Special
Envoy shall develop or update, as the case may be, a United
States global strategy to prevent and respond to
criminalization, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+
people internationally. The Special Envoy shall submit the
global strategy to the appropriate congressional committees
and, if practicable, make the global strategy available to the
public.
(2) Collaboration and coordination.--In developing the
global strategy required under paragraph (1), the Special Envoy
shall consult with--
(A) mid- and high-level officials of relevant
Federal agencies; and
(B) representatives of nongovernmental
organizations with demonstrated experience in
addressing criminalization, discrimination, and
violence against LGBTQI+ people internationally or
promoting equal rights for LGBTQI+ people
internationally.
(f) Monitoring the United States Strategy To Prevent and Respond to
Criminalization, Discrimination, and Violence Against LGBTQI+ People
and Communities Internationally.--In each global strategy submitted
under subsection (e), the Special Envoy shall include an analysis of
best practices for preventing and addressing criminalization,
discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+ people and communities
internationally, including--
(1) a description of successful efforts by foreign
governments and nongovernmental organizations to prevent and
respond to criminalization, discrimination, and violence
against LGBTQI+ people and communities internationally;
(2) recommendations related to best practices, effective
strategies, and improvements to enhance the impact of such
prevention and response efforts; and
(3) the impact of activities funded by the global strategy
in preventing and reducing criminalization, discrimination, and
violence against LGBTQI+ people and communities
internationally.
SEC. 5. DOCUMENTING AND RESPONDING TO BIAS-MOTIVATED VIOLENCE AGAINST
LGBTQI+ PEOPLE ABROAD.
(a) Report on Human Rights and Development Assistance.--Section
116(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) 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
criminalization, discrimination, and violence by state and
nonstate actors based on sexual orientation or gender identity,
as those terms are defined in section 7 of the International
Human Rights Defense Act of 2023, or sex characteristics,
including an identification of those countries that have
adopted laws or constitutional provisions that criminalize or
discriminate based on such sexual orientation, gender identity,
or sex characteristics, including descriptions of such laws and
provisions.''.
(b) Report on Human Rights and Security Assistance.--Section 502B
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304) is amended--
(1) by redesignating the second subsection (i) (relating to
child marriage status) as subsection (j); and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(k) Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Sex
Characteristics.--The report required under subsection (b) shall
include, wherever applicable, the nature and extent of criminalization,
discrimination, and violence by state and nonstate actors based on
sexual orientation or gender identity, as those terms are defined in
section 7 of the International Human Rights Defense Act of 2023, or sex
characteristics, including an identification of those countries that
have adopted laws or constitutional provisions that criminalize or
discriminate based on such sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex
characteristics, including descriptions of such laws and provisions.''.
SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO PREVENT AND
RESPOND TO CRIMINALIZATION, DISCRIMINATION, AND VIOLENCE
AGAINST LGBTQI+ PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES INTERNATIONALLY.
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 criminalization, discrimination,
and violence against LGBTQI+ people internationally. The assistance may
include the following activities:
(1) Development and implementation of programs, such as the
Global Equality Fund of the Department of State, that respond
to human rights abuses against, and the social and economic
exclusion of, LGBTQI+ people.
(2) Support and capacity building for the development and
enforcement of the laws of foreign governments pertaining to
relevant civil and criminal legal and judicial sanctions,
protection, and training.
(3) Enhancement of health sector capacity to detect,
prevent, and respond to violence against LGBTQI+ people and
communities internationally, and to combat HIV/AIDS in the
LGBTQI+ community internationally, in close coordination with
the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy
of the Department of State.
(4) Development of a leadership program for international
LGBTQI+ activists that will foster collaboration and knowledge
sharing across the world.
SEC. 7. 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, regardless of
the individual's designated sex at birth.
(3) Intersex.--The term ``intersex'' means individuals born
with sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads, or
chromosome patterns) that vary from typical binary notions of
male or female bodies and is an umbrella term used to describe
a wide range of natural bodily variations.
(4) LGBTQI+.--The term ``LGBTQI+'' means lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex.
(5) Sexual orientation.--The term ``sexual orientation''
means actual or perceived homosexuality, heterosexuality, or
bisexuality.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line