Text of US SB 2472 (2014)

II 113TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 2472 To establish in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the Department of State a Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Peoples. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 12, 2014 Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. COONS, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. FRANKEN, 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 LGBT Peoples. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Human 4 Rights Defense Act of 2014’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2472 IS (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 1 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 2 mittees’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 4 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 5 Senate; and 6 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 7 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 8 of Representatives. 9 (2) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘‘gender 10 identity’’ means the gender-related identity, appear- 11 ance, or mannerisms or other gender-related charac- 12 teristics of an individual, with or without regard to 13 the individual’s designated sex at birth. 14 (3) LGBT.—The term ‘‘LGBT’’ means lesbian, 15 gay, bisexual, or transgender. 16 (4) SEXUAL ORIENTATION.—The term ‘‘sexual 17 orientation’’ means homosexuality, heterosexuality, 18 or bisexuality. 19 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 20 Congress makes the following findings: 21 (1) Eighty-two countries prohibit the public 22 support of the LGBT community, promote 23 homophobia across society, or criminalize homosex- 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2472 IS uality. That is equal to more than 40 percent of 1 United Nations Member States. 2 (2) In seven countries, homosexuality is a crime 3 that is punishable by death. 4 (3) Around the world, LGBT people face dis- 5 crimination, hatred, violence, and bigotry. 6 (4) Violence and discrimination based on sexual 7 orientation and gender identity are documented in 8 the Department of State’s annual Human Rights 9 Report to Congress. The 2013 report continues to 10 show a clear pattern of increased human rights vio- 11 lations in every region of the world based on sexual 12 orientation and gender identity. These violations in- 13 clude murder, rape, torture, death threats, extortion, 14 imprisonment, as well as loss of employment, hous- 15 ing, access to health care, and other forms of soci- 16 etal stigma and discrimination. The report further 17 documents growing LGBT-specific restrictions on 18 basic freedoms of assembly, press, and speech in 19 every region of the world. 20 (5) In Jamaica and other countries, discrimina- 21 tion against LGBT people, including ‘‘corrective 22 rape’’ of lesbian women, occurs all too frequently 23 and with relative impunity. 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2472 IS (6) In 2013, the Government of the Russian 1 Federation and others in the region passed laws 2 banning ‘‘Homosexual Propaganda’’, which effec- 3 tively makes it a crime to publically support LGBT 4 equality. 5 (7) In February 2014, the Government of 6 Uganda adopted a law that makes ‘‘aggravated ho- 7 mosexuality’’ a crime punishable with life imprison- 8 ment and endangers any individual arbitrarily found 9 to support LGBT people. Concurrently, the Govern- 10 ment of Uganda also passed laws severely limiting 11 the basic freedoms of speech and assembly for 12 LGBT citizens. 13 (8) In December 2013, the Government of Ni- 14 geria adopted a law further criminalizing homosex- 15 uality. The law also criminalizes supporting LGBT 16 people in any way, endangering the neighbors, 17 friends, doctors, and landlords of LGBT people. 18 (9) The anti-homosexuality laws in Nigeria and 19 Uganda potentially endanger all LGBT individuals 20 in those countries. In addition, international HIV 21 workers could be at risk since the study and treat- 22 ment of at-risk populations may constitute support 23 for LGBT people. 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2472 IS (10) On December 6, 2011, President Barack 1 Obama released the Presidential Memorandum— 2 International Initiatives to Advance the Human 3 Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender 4 Persons. The memorandum directed all Federal 5 agencies engaged abroad to ensure that United 6 States diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and 7 protect the human rights of LGBT persons. 8 (11) Secretary of State John Kerry has an- 9 nounced that the United States Government will re- 10 view United States diplomatic relationships with Ni- 11 geria and Uganda in light of passage of their recent 12 anti-LGBT laws. On March 23, 2014, the Depart- 13 ment of State announced that the United States 14 Government would cut $6,400,000 in funding for 15 the Interreligious Council of Uganda because of its 16 support for the Anti-Homosexuality Act, halt a sur- 17 vey designed to minimize the spread of HIV/AIDS 18 because of potential harm to respondents, impose 19 short-term travel bans on Ugandan military officials, 20 and halt some joint military exercises with the mili- 21 tary of Uganda. 22 (12) In December 2013, the Supreme Court of 23 India reversed a lower court ruling and reinstated 24 the criminalization of homosexuality in the second 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2472 IS most populous nation on Earth. In April 2014, In- 1 dia’s Supreme Court recognized transgender people 2 as a third gender, improving the legal rights of 3 transgender people in that country. Given these two 4 court decisions, the degree of human rights protec- 5 tions for LGBT persons in India is uncertain. 6 (13) Removing institutionalized discrimination 7 and targeted persecution against LGBT people 8 around the world is a critical step in the promotion 9 of human rights and global health internationally. 10 (14) According to the Trans Murder Monitoring 11 Project, which monitors homicides of transgender in- 12 dividuals, 238 transgender persons were killed be- 13 tween November 2012 and November 2013 world- 14 wide. 15 (15) According to the International Guidelines 16 on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, as published by 17 the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 18 Rights, countries should review and reform criminal 19 laws and correctional systems to ensure that they 20 are consistent with international human rights obli- 21 gations and are not misused in the context of HIV 22 or targeted against vulnerable groups. 23 SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 24 It is the policy of the United States— 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2472 IS (1) to take effective action to prevent and re- 1 spond to discrimination and violence against all peo- 2 ple on any basis internationally, including sexual ori- 3 entation and gender identity, and that human rights 4 policy include attention to hate crimes and other dis- 5 crimination against LGBT people; 6 (2) to systematically integrate and coordinate 7 efforts to prevent and respond to discrimination and 8 violence against LGBT people internationally into 9 United States foreign policy; 10 (3) to support and build local capacity in coun- 11 tries around the world, including of governments at 12 all levels and nongovernmental organizations, to pre- 13 vent and respond to discrimination and violence 14 against LGBT people internationally; 15 (4) to consult, cooperate, coordinate, and col- 16 laborate with a wide variety of nongovernmental 17 partners with demonstrated experience in preventing 18 and responding to discrimination and violence 19 against LGBT people internationally, including 20 faith-based organizations and LGBT-led organiza- 21 tions; 22 (5) to employ a multisectoral approach to pre- 23 venting and responding to discrimination and vio- 24 lence against LGBT people internationally, including 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2472 IS activities in the economic, education, health, nutri- 1 tion, legal, and judicial sectors; 2 (6) to work at all levels, from the individual to 3 the family, community, local, national, and inter- 4 national levels, to prevent and respond to discrimina- 5 tion and violence against LGBT people internation- 6 ally; 7 (7) to enhance training by United States per- 8 sonnel of professional foreign military and police 9 forces and judicial officials to include appropriate 10 and thorough LGBT-specific instruction on pre- 11 venting and responding to discrimination and vio- 12 lence based on sexual orientation and gender iden- 13 tity; 14 (8) to engage non-LGBT people as allies and 15 partners, as an essential element of making sus- 16 tained reductions in discrimination and violence 17 against LGBT people; 18 (9) to require that all Federal contractors and 19 grant recipients in the United States Government’s 20 international programs establish appropriate policies 21 and take effective measures to ensure the protection 22 and safety of their staff and workplace, including 23 from discrimination and violence directed against 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2472 IS LGBT people and those who provide services to 1 them; 2 (10) to exert sustained international leadership 3 to prevent and respond to discrimination and vio- 4 lence against LGBT persons, including in bilateral 5 and multilateral fora; 6 (11) to fully implement and expand upon the 7 policies outlined in the Presidential Memorandum— 8 International Initiatives to Advance the Human 9 Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender 10 Persons; 11 (12) to ensure that international efforts to com- 12 bat HIV/AIDS take all appropriate measures to sup- 13 port at-risk communities, including LGBT persons, 14 and to create enabling legal environments for these 15 communities; 16 (13) to work with governments and nongovern- 17 mental partners around the world to develop and im- 18 plement regional strategies to decriminalize homo- 19 sexuality and to counteract the prohibition of public 20 support of the LGBT community; and 21 (14) to ensure that those who have a well- 22 founded fear of persecution on account of being 23 LGBT or supporting LGBT rights have the oppor- 24 tunity to seek protection in the United States. 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2472 IS SEC. 5. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF LGBT 1 PEOPLE. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of State shall 3 establish in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, 4 and Labor (DRL) of the Department of State a Special 5 Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Peoples (in this 6 section referred to as the ‘‘Special Envoy’’), who shall be 7 appointed by the President. The Special Envoy shall re- 8 port directly to the Assistant Secretary for DRL. 9 (b) PURPOSE.—In addition to the duties described in 10 subsection (c) and those duties determined by the Sec- 11 retary of State, the Special Envoy shall direct efforts of 12 the United States Government as directed by the Sec- 13 retary regarding human rights abuses against the LGBT 14 community internationally and the advancement of human 15 rights for LGBT people in United States foreign policy, 16 and shall represent the United States internationally in 17 bilateral and multilateral engagement on these matters. 18 (c) DUTIES.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Special Envoy— 20 (A) shall direct activities, policies, pro- 21 grams, and funding relating to the human 22 rights of LGBT people and the advancement of 23 LGBT equality initiatives internationally, for all 24 bureaus and offices of the Department of State 25 and shall lead the coordination of relevant 26 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2472 IS international programs for all other Federal 1 agencies; 2 (B) shall represent the United States in 3 diplomatic matters relevant to the human rights 4 of LGBT people, including discrimination and 5 violence against LGBT people internationally; 6 (C) shall direct, as appropriate, United 7 States Government resources to respond to 8 needs for protection, integration, resettlement, 9 and empowerment of LGBT people in United 10 States Government policies and international 11 programs, including to prevent and respond to 12 discrimination and violence against LGBT peo- 13 ple internationally; 14 (D) shall design, support, and implement 15 activities regarding support, education, resettle- 16 ment, and empowerment of LGBT people inter- 17 nationally, including for the prevention and re- 18 sponse to discrimination and violence against 19 LGBT people internationally; 20 (E) shall lead interagency coordination be- 21 tween the foreign policy priorities related to the 22 human rights of LGBT people and the develop- 23 ment assistance priorities of the LGBT Coordi- 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2472 IS nator of the United States Agency for Inter- 1 national Development; 2 (F) shall conduct regular consultation with 3 civil society organizations working to prevent 4 and respond to discrimination and violence 5 against LGBT people internationally; 6 (G) shall ensure that programs, projects, 7 and activities designed to prevent and respond 8 to discrimination and violence against LGBT 9 people are subject to rigorous monitoring and 10 evaluation, and that there is a uniform set of 11 indicators and standards for such monitoring 12 and evaluation that is used across international 13 programs in Federal agencies; 14 (H) shall serve as the principal advisor to 15 the Secretary of State regarding human rights 16 for LGBT people internationally; and 17 (I) is authorized to represent the United 18 States in diplomatic and multilateral situations 19 on matters relevant to the human rights of 20 LGBT people, including discrimination and vio- 21 lence against LGBT people internationally. 22 (2) DATA REPOSITORY.—The Bureau of De- 23 mocracy, Human Rights, and Labor shall— 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2472 IS (A) be the central repository of data on all 1 United States programs, projects, and activities 2 that relate to prevention and response to dis- 3 crimination and violence against LGBT people; 4 and 5 (B) produce— 6 (i) a full accounting of United States 7 Government spending on such programs, 8 projects, and activities; and 9 (ii) evaluations of the effectiveness of 10 implemented programs. 11 SEC. 6. BRIEFINGS AND ASSESSMENTS. 12 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 13 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Special 14 Envoy shall brief the appropriate congressional commit- 15 tees on the status of the human rights of LGBT people 16 internationally, as well as the status of programs and re- 17 sponse strategies to address LGBT discrimination and vi- 18 olence against LGBT people internationally, and shall 19 submit to the appropriate congressional committees an as- 20 sessment of human and financial resources necessary to 21 fulfill the purposes and duties of this Act. 22 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 14 •S 2472 IS SEC. 7. UNITED STATES POLICY TO PREVENT AND RE- 1 SPOND TO DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE 2 AGAINST LGBT PEOPLE GLOBALLY. 3 (a) GLOBAL STRATEGY REQUIREMENT.—Not later 4 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 5 and annually thereafter for five years, the Special Envoy 6 shall develop or update a United States global strategy 7 to prevent and respond to discrimination and violence 8 against LGBT people globally. The strategy shall be 9 transmitted to the appropriate congressional committees 10 and, if practicable, made available to the public. 11 (b) INITIAL STRATEGY.—For the purposes of this 12 section, the Presidential Memorandum—International Ini- 13 tiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, 14 Bisexual, and Transgender Persons, issued December 6, 15 2011, shall be deemed to fulfill the initial requirement of 16 subsection (a). 17 (c) REPORTING.—In accordance with paragraph (13) 18 of section 116(d) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 19 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)), as added by section 9(b), the An- 20 nual Report on Human Rights Practices shall include de- 21 tailed descriptions of nations that have adopted laws or 22 constitutions that discriminate against LGBT people. 23 (d) COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION.—In devel- 24 oping the strategy under subsection (a), the Special Envoy 25 shall consult with— 26 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 15 •S 2472 IS (1) the heads of relevant Federal agencies; and 1 (2) representatives of civil society, multilateral, 2 and private sector organizations with demonstrated 3 experience in addressing discrimination and violence 4 against LGBT people or promoting equal rights for 5 LGBT people internationally. 6 SEC. 8. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNITED STATES STRAT- 7 EGY TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO LGBT 8 DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE AGAINST 9 THE LGBT COMMUNITY GLOBALLY. 10 The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the 11 United States Agency for International Development are 12 authorized to provide assistance to prevent and respond 13 to discrimination and violence against LGBT people inter- 14 nationally, including the following activities: 15 (1) Development and implementation of pro- 16 grams, such as the Global Equality Fund, that re- 17 spond to human rights abuses and economic exclu- 18 sion of LGBT people in the workplace and in public. 19 (2) Development and enforcement of civil and 20 criminal legal and judicial sanctions, protection, 21 training, and capacity. 22 (3) Enhancement of the health sector capacity 23 to detect, prevent, and respond to violence against 24 the LGBT community and to combat HIV/AIDS in 25 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 16 •S 2472 IS the LGBT community internationally, in close co- 1 ordination with the Office of the Global AIDS Coor- 2 dinator. 3 (4) Development of a leadership program for 4 international LGBT activists that will foster collabo- 5 ration and knowledge sharing across the world. 6 SEC. 9. MONITORING THE UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO 7 PREVENT AND RESPOND TO DISCRIMINA- 8 TION AND VIOLENCE AGAINST THE LGBT 9 COMMUNITY GLOBALLY. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In each strategy submitted under 11 section 7(a), the Special Envoy shall include an analysis 12 of best practices for preventing and addressing discrimina- 13 tion and violence against LGBT people internationally, 14 which shall include— 15 (1) a description of successful efforts by foreign 16 governments, multilateral institutions, nongovern- 17 mental organizations, educational organizations, and 18 faith-based organizations in preventing and respond- 19 ing to discrimination and violence against LGBT 20 people; 21 (2) recommendations related to best practices, 22 effective strategies, and improvements to enhance 23 the impact of prevention and response efforts; and 24 VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS 17 •S 2472 IS (3) the impact of activities funded by the strat- 1 egy in preventing and reducing discrimination and 2 violence against LGBT people internationally. 3 (b) INFORMATION REQUIRED TO BE INCLUDED IN 4 HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES REPORT.—Section 116(d) 5 (22 U.S.C. 2151n(d)) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 6 1961 is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (11)(C), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 8 and inserting a semicolon; 9 (2) in paragraph (12)(C)(ii), by striking the pe- 10 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 11 (3) by adding at the end the following new 12 paragraph: 13 ‘‘(13) wherever applicable, the nature and ex- 14 tent of discrimination and violence based on sexual 15 orientation and gender identity.’’. 16 Æ VerDate Mar 15 2010 00:01 Jun 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2472.IS S2472 rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS