International Human Rights Defense Act of 2023

Subjects: International Affairs


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1833 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1833

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2023

Mr. Robert Garcia of California (for himself, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Crockett, 
 Mr. Connolly, Mr. Lynch, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Norton, Mr. Auchincloss, 
 Mr. Sherman, Ms. Leger Fernandez, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Gomez, 
   Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Allred, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. 
   McCollum, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Kildee, Mr. 
Quigley, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. McGovern, 
   Ms. Porter, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. 
 Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Neguse, Ms. Brown, Mr. Casten, Mr. Costa, Mr. 
Pocan, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Panetta, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Cohen, Mr. 
Vargas, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Schiff, Ms. Salinas, Ms. 
Davids of Kansas, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Keating, Mr. Trone, Ms. 
   Tokuda, Ms. Meng, Ms. Kamlager-Dove, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Stevens, Mr. 
  Schneider, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. 
   Sorensen, Mr. Norcross, Mr. Frost, Ms. Craig, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. 
  Raskin, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Bonamici, and Ms. Lofgren) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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) 67 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) 11 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 non-governmental 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 non-
        governmental 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 
        LGBTI+ 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 LGBTQI+ 
        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 
                forums, 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) 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 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.''.
            (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 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. Such 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.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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