Biden to Appoint LGTBQ Special Envoy, Decry Homophobic State Laws

The Biden administration has announced a new appointment for a position that the previous administration left vacant: That of U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, CNN has reported.

Per the report, OutRight Action International Executive Director Jessica Stern will assume the role.

President Biden is slated to announce the appointment today, June 25. His remarks will reportedly include condemnation of "state-level anti-LGBTQ legislation as 'un-American,'" according to CNN.

Stern is only the second person to occupy the position, CNN notes, adding that "her predecessor, Randy Berry, served in the then-new role from its inception in 2015 until 2017, at which point the position was left vacant by former President Donald Trump."

"The Special Envoy will play a vital role in leading implementation of the Presidential Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Around the World," the White House said in a statement provided to CNN.

The appointment fulfills a campaign promise made by Biden, Axios noted, recalling that Biden also said he would name "an official responsible for LGBTQ+ rights on the National Security Council and a special coordinator in charge of international LGBTQ+ programming at USAID."

"The latter two have yet to be named," Axios added.

Stern's "responsibilities will involve ensuring that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the LGBTQ rights around the world," the Associated Press detailed.

One current example of such LGBTQ persecution is a newly-passed law in Hungary that "bans the sharing of content about LGBT issues with minors," the per the Associated Press. Proponents of the law claim it "protects children," but, the AP noted: "Critics say it links homosexuality with pedophilia."

LGBTQ people in Poland have also faced rising homophobic sentiment and attacks from their government in recent years.

In some non-Western countries, the situation is even worse, with the Russian province of Chechnya reportedly arresting, torturing, and even murdering LGBTQ individuals.

Of the 69 nations globally where it is illegal to be LGBTQ, nearly half are located in Africa, the BBC reported in May. Some Nigerian states mete out the death penalty to gays. So do a handful of other nations, including Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania, and Brunei, the BBC said.

But LGBTQ Americans also face mounting legislative challenges, as CNN has pointed out, with a spate of "anti-LGBTQ bills [having] been introduced by Republican state lawmakers around the country in 2021, including a record number of measures targeting transgender Americans."

"So far this year, eight states have enacted anti-trans sports bans, while one state, Arkansas, has approved a law prohibiting physicians in the state from providing gender-affirming treatment for trans youth," CNN added.

The CNN report said that, according to a White House spokesperson, Biden would call out such state laws as "bullying disguised as legislation" in his June 25 remarks.