WASHINGTON – U.S Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), along with U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), introduced the Global Respect Act, legislation that would impose sanctions on foreign individuals responsible for human rights violations against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals abroad.  Similar legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI-1) in response to a United Nations report that found thousands of incidents of physical violence are committed against LGBT individuals each year.

“LGBT rights are human rights, and we must redouble our efforts to stand with the LGBT community both here and abroad,” said Murphy and Blumenthal. “No one anywhere should be subjected to persecution because of who they love. This legislation says loudly and clearly that the United States will not tolerate violence or oppression towards the LGBT community around the globe.”

There are currently 75 countries that criminalize consensual same-sex relations, and in ten countries consensual same-sex relations are even punishable by death. Several countries, including Russia, have newly instituted or proposed laws outlawing “LGBT propaganda,” a vague term that has been interpreted to mean any public statement in support of LGBT rights or LGBT individuals. The Global Respect Act would:

  • Require the Executive Branch to biannually send Congress a list of foreign persons responsible for, complicit in, or who have incited extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violations of human rights based on sexual orientation or gender identity;
  • Deny or revoke visas to individuals placed on the list;
  • Require the annual State Department Report on Human Rights to include a section on LGBT international human rights, as well as an annual 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 staff position responsible for tracking violence, criminalization, and restrictions on the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms in foreign countries based on sexual orientation or gender identity.