Out in the World: Passage of Global Respect Act signals US stands with LGBTQ people globally
Signaling the importance of global LGBTQ issues, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Global Respect Act. The bill, introduced by gay Congressmember David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), passed on a vote of 227-206 February 9.
It has now been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has bipartisan support in the upper chamber of Congress.
Under the bill, the State Department would be tasked with tracking violence against LGBTQ people around the world. It could also deny or revoke visas for foreign perpetrators — individuals and state actors — based on human rights laws, preventing them from entering the United States.
LGBTQ people are criminalized in 71 countries around the world, according to Human Dignity Trust. LGBTQ people in many countries with anti-LGBTQ laws suffer from discrimination, blackmail, torture, physical and verbal assaults, and death. "In too many places violence against this community is pervasive and even sanctioned or directed by government officials," Cicilline said on the House floor the day of the vote.
