Office of the Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons closed; post left permanently vacant

Personnel actionDOS

Date
Actor
Department of State / The White House
Agency
Department of State (DOS)
Type
Personnel action
Section
SUPPLEMENT: STATE DEPARTMENT: THE LGBTQI+ HUMAN-RIGHTS OFFICE STRUCTURE AND THE REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PATHWAY — PLUS PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATIONS AS A MISSING INSTRUMENT TYPE

Summary

The Office of the Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons — created April 13, 2015 (first envoy Randy W. Berry, 2015–2017; second envoy Jessica Stern, September 27, 2021 – January 20, 2025) — closed on inauguration day, and detailed staff were returned to their home offices within DRL. The office had directed U.S. foreign policy on LGBTQI+ issues, administered the Global Equality Fund, led U.S. strategy at the United Nations, and held a Priority-1 refugee referral authority (see item below). The position is administratively created, not congressionally mandated, which is why it could be extinguished by non-appointment. The underlying policy instrument — the February 4, 2021 Presidential Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Around the World — was not among the presidential actions revoked by EO 14148 on January 20, 2025; the administration instead removed the structure that implemented it.

Status

In effect. The post remains vacant; no nominee or appointee has been identified as of August 2026. The office was not reconstituted in the 2025 reorganization, and the position that housed the residual LGBTQI+ portfolio (Senior Advisor for the Human Rights of LGBTQI Persons, owned by DRL/MLGA) was eliminated with that office in July 2025.

As recorded in the data of . Check the sources for anything newer.

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