IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 470 
Supporting the right of LGBTQI+ people to equal and inalienable human 
rights, economic rights, civil rights, and social and political equity at 
home and abroad and condemning discrimination, persecution, and vio-
lence against LGBTQI+ identifying individuals and communities every-
where, including in Europe and Eurasia. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 11, 2021 
Mr. KEATING (for himself, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. JACOBS of Cali-
fornia, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. TITUS, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. WILD, 
Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. COSTA, Mr. TAKANO, and Mr. PAPPAS) submitted 
the following resolution; 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 consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Supporting the right of LGBTQI+ people to equal and in-
alienable human rights, economic rights, civil rights, and 
social and political equity at home and abroad and con-
demning discrimination, persecution, and violence against 
LGBTQI+ identifying individuals and communities ev-
erywhere, including in Europe and Eurasia. 
Whereas Articles 2 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights state that all people are entitled to the 
rights and freedoms in the Declaration without distinc-
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•HRES 470 IH 
tion of any kind such as race, color, sex, language, reli-
gion, political opinion or other opinion, national or social 
origin, property, birth, or other status, and Articles 2, 
14, and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights reinforce this right to equality for all 
with no distinction; 
Whereas Articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights and Articles 2, 14, and 26 of the Inter-
national Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ensure 
freedom of expression and freedom of association for all 
individuals; 
Whereas globally, including in some countries in Europe and 
Eurasia, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and 
intersex (referred to in this resolution as ‘‘LGBTQI+’’) 
communities have faced increasingly hostile environ-
ments, fueled by increasing democratic backsliding and 
discriminatory rhetoric by politicians across the region; 
Whereas some European countries are considered to have 
among the world’s strongest rights and protections for 
LGBTQI+ persons, and a number of other countries in 
Europe and Eurasia have made progress in expanding 
rights and protections for LGBTQI+ persons, despite 
continuing challenges in the region; 
Whereas the right to equal treatment and nondiscrimination 
is enshrined in the Charter of the Fundamental Rights 
of the European Union, the Treaty on European Union, 
and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union; 
Whereas the 47 member states of the Council of Europe 
agreed in 2010 to a Recommendation from its Committee 
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•HRES 470 IH 
of Ministers on measures to combat discrimination on the 
grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity; 
Whereas some countries in Europe and Eurasia do not explic-
itly include sexual orientation, sex characteristics, or gen-
der identity and expression as protected grounds in anti-
discrimination laws, and as a result place marginalized 
populations in danger of discrimination and violence; 
Whereas in many countries in Europe and Eurasia 
LGBTQI+ 
communities 
that 
already 
face 
marginalization have experienced increased levels of 
homelessness 
and 
economic 
insecurity 
during 
the 
COVID–19 pandemic; 
Whereas hate speech and online and physical abuse against 
LGBTQI+ communities in Europe and Eurasia have 
been exacerbated by the COVID–19 pandemic; 
Whereas European and multinational organizations lack sys-
tematic monitoring, documentation, and data collection 
surrounding hate crimes against LGBTQI+ identifying 
individuals and concerning violence against LGBTQI+ 
communities; 
Whereas many governments at either the national or regional 
level, including in Turkey, Poland, and Hungary munic-
ipal governments, have taken actions that curtail the 
rights of or negatively target LGBTQI+ people; 
Whereas Polish local governments in the form of regional, 
county, or municipal governing bodies have passed resolu-
tions declaring themselves to be ‘‘LGBT-Free Zones’’ or 
‘‘free from LGBT Ideology’’; 
Whereas expressions of bigotry and hostility by authorities 
may result in increased acts of violence and hate crimes 
against LGBTQI+ individuals; 
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•HRES 470 IH 
Whereas LGBTQI+ people have faced increasing violence 
from which authorities have not protected them, includ-
ing violence against participants in pride parades; 
Whereas, in many countries, antitrans rhetoric has been 
linked to an increase in transphobic hate crimes over the 
past several years, including multiple murders of 
transgender individuals in Europe and Eurasia in recent 
years; 
Whereas opposition to trans rights has grown in much of Eu-
rope and Eurasia, in some cases causing a regression in 
legal gender recognition policies; 
Whereas legal gender recognition has stagnated or reversed, 
with some countries withdrawing or restricting the right 
to legal gender recognition in law, including to various 
degrees in Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan; 
Whereas in some instances authorities across Europe and 
Eurasia have failed to classify hate crimes committed 
against LGBTQI+ individuals as such, including murder, 
other acts of violence, and extortion; 
Whereas government officials in Hungary and Poland have 
used anti-LGBTQI+ rhetoric in the political sphere, 
which civil society groups have linked to an increase in 
violence against LGBTQI+ identifying people, as well as 
introduced legislative actions that have limited the rights 
of LGBTQI+ people; 
Whereas Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that he 
will not introduce marriage equality in the Russian Fed-
eration as long as he remains in power; 
Whereas Russian authorities have imposed fines on Russian 
citizens, prohibited rallies and performances, and blocked 
websites on the basis of a 2013 law banning ‘‘propa-
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•HRES 470 IH 
ganda’’ to minors about ‘‘non-traditional sexual relation-
ships’’; 
Whereas in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation, 
authorities in 2017 and again in the winter of 2018– 
2019 detained and tortured gay men in a campaign of 
arrests, torture, and extrajudicial executions in what has 
since become known as the ‘‘gay purge’’; 
Whereas, in February of 2020, journalist Elena Milashina, 
who first reported on the ‘‘gay purge’’ in Chechnya, was 
attacked by what appeared to be an organized mob in the 
Chechen capital of Grozny and was later the target of a 
death threat delivered on Instagram by Ramzan Kadyrov, 
the leader of the Chechen Republic; 
Whereas the United States and European Union have sanc-
tioned two Russian officials in Chechnya for their role in 
the persecution of LGBTQI+ identifying people in the 
region; 
Whereas the severity of these attacks prompted the United 
States and 15 other countries to support the appointment 
of an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Eu-
rope rapporteur in 2018 to examine gross violations of 
human rights, torture, extrajudicial killings, forced dis-
appearances, and impunity; 
Whereas, despite significant difficulties, many governments in 
European and Eurasian countries have made positive 
progress toward LGBTQI+ equality and human rights in 
recent years; 
Whereas many countries in Europe and Eurasia allow same- 
sex marriage and same-sex civil unions, including Monte-
negro which in 2020 became the first Western Balkan 
country to legalize same-sex civil partnership; 
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•HRES 470 IH 
Whereas, in 2020, a court in Turkey reversed a previous ban 
on pride parades in the country; 
Whereas, on March 11, 2021, the European Parliament 
passed a resolution declaring an ‘‘LGBTIQ Freedom 
Zone’’ in response to concerning developments related to 
the human rights situation for LGBTQI+ communities 
in the European Union; and 
Whereas the United States and its transatlantic allies and 
partners must explore avenues for cooperation in support 
of the human rights, civil rights, social rights, and eco-
nomic rights of LGBTQI+ identifying people and in 
building coalitions in support of equality in the United 
States, Europe, Eurasia, and across the world: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) reinforces that the United States Govern-
ment has an obligation to promote and protect the 
human rights of all people, a central value of our 
country, including those of LGBTQI+ identifying 
individuals at home and abroad; 
(2) finds that it is the responsibility of all gov-
ernments to ensure that the equal rights of 
LGBTQI+ people are respected; 
(3) calls on the Department of State, the 
United States Agency for International Develop-
ment, and other Federal agencies to include the pro-
motion of equal rights for LGBTQI+ identifying 
people in their work; 
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•HRES 470 IH 
(4) strongly condemns all acts of discrimina-
tion, persecution, and violence, including bigoted 
rhetoric and hate crimes, committed against any 
person based on their sexual orientation, gender 
identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics; 
(5) calls on governments across Europe and 
Eurasia to foster safe and equitable environments 
for all people, including those within the LGBTQI+ 
community; 
(6) recognizes the progress that many countries 
across Europe and Eurasia have achieved in ensur-
ing equal rights for LGBTQI+ identifying individ-
uals and communities; 
(7) calls on any governments with such a policy 
to rescind all designation of counties, regions, or 
municipalities as ‘‘LGBT-Free Zones’’ and quickly 
implement measures to reintroduce equitable local 
practices and root out systematized discrimination in 
governing practices; 
(8) urges the United States Government to con-
tinue to assist in the development and implementa-
tion of training programs in European and Eurasian 
countries, and within multilateral bodies, to bolster 
antidiscrimination practices and promote LGBTQI+ 
equity and inclusion; 
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•HRES 470 IH 
(9) urges the United States Government to in-
crease funding for LGBTQI+ human rights organi-
zations in Europe and Eurasia so that they are bet-
ter equipped to respond to growing anti-LGBTQI+ 
forces; 
(10) expresses concern that young LGBTQI+ 
individuals experience harassment beginning in 
school, and calls for European and Eurasian govern-
ments to take action and provide LGBTQI+ chil-
dren the same rights to equality in the educational 
system as all students; 
(11) calls for better and more comprehensive 
reporting of anti-LGBTQI+ hate crimes in Europe 
and Eurasia and for transatlantic cooperation on 
data collection and reporting systems for anti- 
LGBTQI+ hate crimes and bias-motivated violence 
in Europe, Eurasia, and the United States; 
(12) continues to support the fundamental 
human rights, civil rights, social rights, and eco-
nomic rights of all LGBTQI+ identifying people on 
both sides of the Atlantic; and 
(13) 
encourages 
further 
protection 
for 
LGBTQI+ and other marginalized communities 
around the world. 
Æ 
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