[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4050 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4050
To protect human rights and enhance opportunities for LGBTQI people
around the world, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 12, 2023
Ms. Titus (for herself, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Connolly, Ms.
Williams of Georgia, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Torres of
New York, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Allred, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Kim of New Jersey,
Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Jacobs, Mr.
Panetta, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Costa, Mr. Green of
Texas, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Quigley, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Kildee, Ms.
Norton, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Robert Garcia of California, Mr.
Gomez, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Tokuda, Ms. Pingree,
Mr. Bera, Mrs. McClellan, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Schneider, Mr.
Keating, Ms. Omar, Ms. Strickland, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Meng,
Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Mr. Levin, Mr.
Gottheimer, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Chu, Mr. Moulton, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms.
Crockett, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, and Ms. Balint)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To protect human rights and enhance opportunities for LGBTQI people
around the world, 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 ``Greater Leadership Overseas for the
Benefit of Equality Act of 2023'' or the ``GLOBE Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The norms of good governance, human rights protections,
and the rule of law have been violated unconscionably with
respect to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and
intersex (LGBTQI) peoples in an overwhelming majority of
countries around the world, where LGBTQI people face violence,
hatred, bigotry, and discrimination because of who they are and
whom they love.
(2) In at least 67 countries, or roughly 35 percent of the
world, same-sex relations and relationships are criminalized.
Many countries also criminalize or otherwise prohibit cross-
dressing and gender-affirming treatments for transgender
individuals.
(3) The World Bank has begun to measure the macro-economic
costs of criminal laws targeting LGBTQI individuals through
lost productivity, detrimental health outcomes and violence, as
a step toward mitigating those costs.
(4) Violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation
and gender identity are documented in the Department of State's
annual Country Human Rights Reports to Congress. These reports
continue to show a clear pattern of human rights violations,
including murder, rape, torture, death threats, extortion, and
imprisonment, in every region of the world based on sexual
orientation and gender identity. In many instances police,
prison, military, and civilian government authorities have been
directly complicit in abuses aimed at LGBTQI citizens.
(5) As documented by the State Department, LGBTQI
individuals are subjected in many countries to capricious
imprisonment, loss of employment, housing, access to health
care, societal stigma, and discrimination. LGBTQI-specific
restrictions on basic freedoms of assembly, press, and speech
exist in every region of the world.
(6) Targeted sanctions are an important tool to push for
accountability for violations of the human rights of LGBTQI
people.
(7) Anti-LGBTQI laws and discrimination pose significant
risks for LGBTQI youth who come out to their family or
community and often face rejection, homelessness, and limited
educational and economic opportunities. These factors
contribute to increased risks of substance abuse, suicide, and
HIV infection among LGBTQI youth.
(8) Anti-LGBTQI laws also increase global health risks.
Studies have shown that when LGBTQI people, especially LGBTQI
youth, face discrimination, they are less likely to seek HIV
testing, prevention, and treatment services.
(9) LGBTQI populations are disproportionately impacted by
the Mexico City Policy, also widely referred to as the ``global
gag rule''. LGBTQI people often receive much of their health
care through reproductive health clinics, and organizations
that cannot comply with the policy are forced to discontinue
work on United States-supported global health projects that are
frequently used by LGBTQI populations, including HIV prevention
and treatment, stigma reduction, and research.
(10) Because they face tremendous discrimination in the
formal labor sector, many sex workers are also LGBTQI
individuals, and many sex-worker-led programs and clinics serve
the LGBTQI community with safe, non-stigmatizing, medical and
social care. USAID has also referred to sex workers as a
``most-at-risk population''. The anti-prostitution loyalty oath
that health care providers receiving United States assistance
must take isolates sex-worker-led and serving groups from
programs and reinforces stigma, undermining both the global
AIDS response and human rights. The Supreme Court found this
requirement unconstitutional as it applies to United States
nongovernmental organizations and their foreign affiliates in
2013.
(11) According to the Trans Murder Monitoring Project,
which monitors homicides of transgender individuals, there were
at least 327 cases of reported killings of trans and gender-
diverse people between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022.
(12) In many countries, intersex individuals experience
prejudice and discrimination because their bodies do not
conform to general expectations about sex and gender. Because
of these expectations, medically unnecessary interventions are
often performed in infancy without the consent or approval of
intersex individuals, in violation of international human
rights standards.
(13) Asylum and refugee protection are critical last-resort
protections for LGBTQI individuals, but those who seek such
protections face ostracization and abuse in refugee camps and
detention facilities. They are frequently targeted for
violence, including sexual assault, in refugee camps and in
immigration detention. LGBTQI individuals may be segregated
against their will for long periods in solitary confinement, in
an effort to protect them from such violence, but prolonged
solitary confinement itself represents an additional form of
abuse that is profoundly damaging to the social and
psychological well-being of any individual.
(14) The global COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated
inequalities that LGBTQI individuals face, including access to
health care, stigma, and discrimination, undermining LGBTQI
rights around the world.
(15) In December 2011, President Barack Obama directed all
Federal foreign affairs agencies to ensure that their
diplomatic, humanitarian, health and foreign assistance
programs take into account the needs of marginalized LGBTQI
communities and persons.
(16) In 2015, the Department of State established the
position of Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI
Persons.
(17) In 2021, President Joseph Biden issued the Memorandum
on Advancing the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons Around the World,
which stated 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 called for United States global leadership
on LGBTQI rights.
(18) In Bostock v. Clayton County, the Supreme Court held
that title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits
discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual
orientation. On January 20, 2021, President Biden issued
Executive Order 13988 to enforce Bostock, which orders all
agency heads to determine the additional steps they should take
to ensure that administration policies are fully implemented
consistent with Bostock, including the Secretary of State and
the Administrator of USAID.
(19) The use of United States diplomatic tools, including
the Department of State's exchange and speaker programs, to
address the human rights needs of marginalized communities has
helped inform public debates in many countries regarding the
protective responsibilities of any democratic government.
(20) Inclusion of human rights protections for LGBTQI
individuals in United States trade agreements, as in the United
States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and trade preference programs
is intended both to ensure a level playing field for United
States business and to provide greater workplace protections
overseas, compatible with those of the United States.
(21) Engaging multilateral fora and international
institutions is critical to impacting global norms and to
broadening global commitments to fairer standards for the
treatment of all people, including LGBTQI people. The United
States must remain a leader in the United Nations system and
has a vested interest in the success of that multilateral
engagement.
(22) Ongoing United States participation in the Equal
Rights Coalition, which is a new intergovernmental coalition of
more than 40 governments and leading civil society
organizations that work together to protect the human rights of
LGBTQI people around the world, remains vital to international
efforts to respond to violence and impunity.
(23) Those who represent the United States abroad,
including our diplomats, development specialists and military,
should reflect the diversity of our country and honor the
United States call to equality, including through proud and
open service abroad by LGBTQI United States citizens and those
living with HIV.
SEC. 3. DOCUMENTING AND RESPONDING TO BIAS-MOTIVATED VIOLENCE AGAINST
LGBTQI PEOPLE ABROAD.
(a) Information Required To Be Included in Annual Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices.--
(1) Section 116.--Section 116(d) of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (11)(C), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(B) in paragraph (12)(C)(ii), by striking the
period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(13) 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
those terms are defined in section 12 of the GLOBE 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 sexual orientation,
gender identity, or sex characteristics, including descriptions
of such laws and provisions.''.
(2) Section 502b.--Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance
Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2304) is amended--
(A) by redesignating the second subsection (i)
(relating to child marriage status) as subsection (j);
and
(B) 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 non-state actors based on
sexual orientation or gender identity, as those terms are defined in
section 12 of the GLOBE 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
sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics, including
descriptions of such laws and provisions.''.
(b) Review at Diplomatic and Consular Posts.--
(1) In general.--In preparing the annual country reports on
human rights practices required by section 116 or 502B of the
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended by subsection (a),
the Secretary of State shall obtain information from each
diplomatic and consular post with respect to the following:
(A) Incidents of violence against LGBTQI people in
the country in which such post is located.
(B) An analysis of the factors enabling or
aggravating such incidents, such as government policy,
societal pressure, or external actors.
(C) The response, whether public or private, of the
personnel of such post with respect to such incidents.
(2) Addressing bias-motivated violence.--The Secretary
shall include in the annual strategic plans of the regional
bureaus concrete diplomatic strategies, programs, and policies
to address bias-motivated violence using information obtained
pursuant to paragraph (1), such as programs to build capacity
among civil society or governmental entities to document,
investigate, and prosecute instances of such violence and
provide support to victims of such violence.
(c) Interagency Group.--
(1) Establishment.--There is established an interagency
group on responses to urgent threats to LGBTQI people in
foreign countries (in this subsection referred to as the
``interagency group''), that shall be chaired by the Secretary
of State and include the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of
the Treasury, the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, the Attorney General, and the head
of each other Federal department or agency the President
determines is relevant to the duties of the interagency group.
(2) Duties.--The duties of the interagency group shall be
to--
(A) coordinate the responses of each participating
agency with respect to threats directed towards LGBTQI
populations in other countries;
(B) develop longer-term approaches to policy
developments and incidents negatively impacting the
LGBTQI populations in specific countries;
(C) advise the President on the designation of
foreign persons for sanctions pursuant to section 4;
(D) identify United States laws and policies, at
the Federal, State, and local levels, that affirm the
equality of LGBTQI persons; and
(E) use such identified laws and policies to
develop diplomatic strategies to share the expertise
obtained from the implementation of such laws and
policies with appropriate officials of countries where
LGBTQI persons do not enjoy equal protection under the
law.
(d) Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI Peoples.--
(1) Establishment.--The Secretary of State shall establish
in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor 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--
(A) shall be appointed by the President; and
(B) 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.
(3) Purpose.--The Special Envoy shall direct efforts of the
United States Government relating to United States foreign
policy, as directed by 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.
(4) Duties.--The Special Envoy shall--
(A) serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary
of State regarding human rights for LGBTQI people
internationally;
(B) 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;
(C) represent the United States in diplomatic
matters relevant to the human rights of LGBTQI people,
including criminalization, discrimination, and violence
against LGBTQI people internationally;
(D) 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 internationa