[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2231 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2231
To protect human rights and enhance opportunities for LGBTQI people
around the world, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 9, 2025
Mr. Markey (for himself, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Coons, Mr. Padilla,
Mr. Schiff, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Baldwin, Ms.
Cortez Masto, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Welch, Mr.
Booker, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Rosen, Mrs. Shaheen, and Mr. Van Hollen)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
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 TITLES; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Titles.--This Act may be cited as the ``Greater
Leadership Overseas for the Benefit of Equality Act of 2025'' or the
``GLOBE Act of 2025''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short titles; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Documenting and responding to bias-motivated violence against
LGBTQI people abroad.
Sec. 5. Sanctions on individuals responsible for violations of human
rights against LGBTQI people.
Sec. 6. Combating international criminalization of LGBTQI status,
expression, or conduct.
Sec. 7. Foreign assistance to protect human rights of LGBTQI people.
Sec. 8. Global health inclusivity.
Sec. 9. Immigration reform.
Sec. 10. Issuance of passports and guarantee of citizenship to certain
children born abroad.
Sec. 11. Engaging international organizations in the fight against
LGBTQI discrimination.
Sec. 12. Representing the rights of United States LGBTQI citizens
deployed to diplomatic and consular posts.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States has been and must always be the
global leader in protecting human rights, including the rights
of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex
(LGBTQI) peoples around the world.
(2) The norms of good governance, human rights protections,
and the rule of law have been violated unconscionably with
respect to 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.
(3) In at least 62 countries, or roughly 32 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.
(4) 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.
(5) 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.
(6) As documented by the Department of State, LGBTQI
individuals in many countries are subjected to capricious
imprisonment, loss of employment, housing, and 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.
(7) Targeted sanctions are an important tool to push for
accountability for violations of the human rights of LGBTQI
people.
(8) 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.
(9) 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.
(10) 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.
(11) At the beginning of his second term, President Donald
Trump reinstated the global gag rule before abruptly
terminating nearly all foreign aid contracts.
(12) 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. The United States Agency for International
Development (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.
(13) According to the Trans Murder Monitoring Project,
which monitors homicides of transgender individuals, there were
at least 350 cases of reported killings of trans and gender-
diverse people between October 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024.
(14) 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, and are then often denied official
identification papers, blocking them from accessing basic
services and legal protections.
(15) 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.
(16) The global COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated inequalities
that LGBTQI individuals face, including access to health care,
stigma, and discrimination, undermining LGBTQI rights around
the world.
(17) 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.
(18) In 2015, the Department of State established the
position of Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI
Persons.
(19) 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.
(20) 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.
(21) 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.
(22) 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.
(23) 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.
(24) 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, is vital to international efforts to respond
to violence and impunity.
(25) 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. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate;
(C) the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate;
(D) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives;
(E) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives; and
(F) the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Gender identity.--The term ``gender identity'' means
the gender-related identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other
gender-related characteristics of an individual, regardless of
the individual's designated sex at birth.
(3) Lgbtqi.--The term ``LGBTQI'' means lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex.
(4) Member of a vulnerable group.--The term ``member of a
vulnerable group'' means an alien who--
(A) is younger than 21 years of age or older than
60 years of age;
(B) is pregnant;
(C) identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, or intersex;
(D) is victim or witness of a crime;
(E) has filed a nonfrivolous civil rights claim in
Federal or State court;
(F) has a serious mental or physical illness or
disability;
(G) has been determined by an asylum officer in an
interview conducted under section 235(b)(1)(B) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1225(b)(1)(B)) to have a credible fear of persecution;
or
(H) has been determined by an immigration judge or
the Secretary of Homeland Security to be experiencing
severe trauma or to be a survivor of torture or gender-
based violence, based on information obtained during
intake, from the alien's attorney or legal service
provider, or through credible self-reporting.
(5) Sexual orientation.--The term ``sexual orientation''
means actual or perceived homosexuality, heterosexuality, or
bisexuality.
SEC. 4. 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:
``(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 3 of the GLOBE Act of 2025,
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:
``(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 3 of the GLOBE Act of 2025, 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 under sections 116 and 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--
(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; and
(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 of
State 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 (referred to in this subsection as the
``Interagency Group''), which shall be chaired by the Secretary
of State and shall 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--
(A) coordinating the responses of each
participating agency with respect to threats directed
towards LGBTQI populations in other countries;
(B) developing longer-term approaches to policy
developments and incidents negatively impacting the
LGBTQI populations in specific countries;
(C) advising the Pre