Murkowski, Shaheen Lead Bipartisan Legislation to Impose Sanctions on Perpetrators of Global Violence against LGBTI Communities
Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) led a bipartisan group of lawmakers in reintroducing the Global Respect Act. This legislation would impose sanctions on foreign individuals responsible for human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex (LGBTQI) individuals abroad. Companion legislation is led in the House of Representatives by Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-51).
“In certain countries around the world, members of the LGBTQI community are subject to discrimination and harm every day,” said Senator Murkowski. “We should not tolerate violence against any group of people. By creating and strengthening consequences for those who carry out human rights violations, my hope is that we prevent it from happening in the first place.”
“It’s unconscionable that LGBTQI communities around the world face persecution, jail and murder because of who they love and how they identify. These communities should be free to express who they are, love who they love and enjoy all the same basic human rights as anyone else. The U.S. has a moral imperative to make clear to the international community that LGBTI rights are human rights, and that we will work to protect these communities regardless of where they are in the world,” said Senator Shaheen. “That’s why I’m leading this bipartisan effort to empower the administration with enhanced authority to bring human rights violators to justice while expanding protections for LGBTQI individuals around the world.”
Specifically, 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 an annual report to Congress on the status of the law’s effectiveness.
- 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.
Full text of the bill is available here.
