Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey
on Friday introduced legislation which would make LGBT rights a
foreign policy priority for the United States.
Markey, a Democrat, introduced his
legislation during a noontime press conference in Boston.
Twenty-four Senators have signed on as
co-sponsors to Markey's International Human Rights Defense Act, which
if approved would “direct the Department of State to make
preventing and responding to discrimination and violence against the
LGBT community a foreign policy priority and devise a global strategy
to achieve those goals [by] establishing a position in the Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor responsible for coordinating that
effort.”
“For the United States to hold true
to our commitment to defending the human rights of all people around
the world, we must stand with the LGBT community in their struggle
for recognition and equality everywhere,” Markey said. “The
International Human Rights Defense Act will foster a coordinated
effort across the federal government and relevant agencies so we can
meet the enormous challenge before us and work to ensure equality for
all people around the globe.”
According to Markey's office, more than
80 nations have laws that “criminalize homosexuality, prohibit
public support for the LGBT community, or promote homophobia.”
Original co-sponsors include Democratic
Senators Charles Schumer of New York, Patty Murray of Washington,
Barbara Boxer of California, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Chris Murphy of
Connecticut, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Kirsten Gillibrand of New
York, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Richard Blumenthal of
Connecticut, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Mazie Hirono of
Hawaii, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Patrick Leahy
of Vermont, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Cory Booker
of New Jersey, Chris Coons of Delaware, Dianne Feinstein of
California, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Al Franken of Minnesota,
and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.