San Diego City Wire

Representatives Sara Jacobs (CA-51) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) introduced the Global Respect Act on June 30. The bipartisan legislation would impose sanctions on foreign individuals responsible for human rights violations against the LGBTQ+ community around the world. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) lead the companion legislation in the Senate.

Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, Vice Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said, “Living authentically should never mean being subjected to discrimination, violence, jail time, torture, or even murder – but that’s the case for many members of the LGBTQ+ community in the United States and around the world. Protecting the LGBTQ+ community isn’t only the right thing to do, it’s also critical for our national security. The United States has the unparalleled ability to build international coalitions that further our goals because we’re seen as human rights defenders – and in order to maintain that reputation, we must continue to protect the LGBTQ+ community and hold anti-LGBTQ+ human rights abusers accountable. I’m proud to introduce the bipartisan and bicameral Global Respect Act, which sends a powerful message to the LGBTQ+ community that we will protect you and your human rights.”

“The United States has a responsibility to uphold our commitment to human dignity and to hold oppressive regimes that maliciously harm and even kill their own citizens accountable,” said Congressman Fitzpatrick. “The bipartisan Global Respect Act would direct the State Department to track foreign nations’ violence and harassment of individuals because of their sexual orientation, as well as ensure that the human rights violators are not permitted visas into the U.S. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance human rights and freedom around the world.”

The Global Respect Act would: 

• Require the Executive Branch to biannually send Congress a list of foreign persons responsible for, or complicit in cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment of an individual; prolonged detention of an individual without charges or trials; causing the disappearance of an individual by abduction and clandestine detention of an individual; other flagrant denials of the right to life, liberty or the security of an individual;
• Authorize the Administration to deny or revoke visas to individuals placed on the list;  
• Require the annual State Department Report on Human Rights to include a section on LGBTI international human rights, as well as a yearly report to Congress on the status of the law’s effectiveness; and 
• Require the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor to designate a senior officer responsible for tracking violence, criminalization and restrictions on the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms in foreign countries based on sexual orientation or gender identity.  

Original source can be found here.