Countries that affirm the human rights of LGBT and intersex citizens understand their commitment to democracy and make strong diplomatic and economic partners. In contrast, countries that persecute LGBTI and other minorities tend not to be stable U.S. allies, or countries with which broad bilateral relations can grow. In too many countries, laws still criminalize LGBT relationships and deny freedoms of association, speech and expression to LGBTI groups. Bias-motivated crimes are committed with impunity against LGBT and intersex populations in every region, with transgender individuals particularly vulnerable. Discriminatory public policies in some countries make access by LGBTI individuals to life-saving HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment difficult, and cause the LGBTI community to be fearful of seeking services. LGBT and intersex individuals and organizations often are denied access to economic and educational tools and opportunities, marginalized within civil society, and excluded from access to governing officials.
The Council seeks rapid, consistent, and principled responses from U.S. embassies and foreign affairs agencies to these human rights abuses. We work with the State Department to ensure its annual country human rights report includes a detailed analysis of such abuse, and that those findings drive U.S. human rights policy and funding priorities within the Department. When urgent situations arise, the Council engages our diplomats and senior policy makers at the State Department, the White House and on Capitol Hill. We urge parallel U.S. policy advocacy at the United Nations and in other multilateral fora in response to abuse. We educate our membership to ensure an integrated response across our 30 member groups.
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