House Passes Bill Protecting LGBTQ Community on Bipartisan Basis
“Today, the House took a bold step forward in protecting the fundamental rights of the global LGBTQ community,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweets
The House approved legislation Wednesday which would crack down on those who persecute members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) community across international borders.
Lawmakers approved the Global Respect Act by a vote of 227-206, with six Republicans joining all Democrats voting to approve the legislation.
The bill would:
Deny visas to those who commit human rights abuses to LGBTQ+ individuals abroad;
Create State Department reporting requirements on these issues;
And would apply to both individual and state actors committing abuse.
“Today, the House took a bold step forward in protecting the fundamental rights of the global LGBTQ community,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted. “The bipartisan #GlobalRespectAct will ensure America offers no safe haven to those who violate the human rights of our LGBTQ family, friends & neighbors around the world.”
Rep David Cicilline, the openly gay congressman from Rhode Island — who served as the first openly gay mayor of a US state capital — and the original proponent of the Global Respect Act, also celebrated it's passage Wednesday.
“And with BIPARTISAN support, the #GlobalRespectAct just passed the House, sending a strong message around the world that every member of the #LGBTQI community deserves to live with dignity and free from violence, unlawful detention, torture, and all forms of brutality,” he tweeted.
Pelosi called on the Senate to take up and pass the Global Respect Act.
“Now, the Senate must join the House in standing up for human rights around the world and here at home by enacting not only the Global Respect Act, but the House-passed #EqualityAct as well,” she said.
However, it faces a cloudy future where Senate Republicans are likely to filibuster the bill.
Others on social media we're not as willing to paint as rosy a picture of either the legislation itself — or the margin by which it was approved.
“Will this also help protect us at home from the GQP that are banning LGBTQ+ books in schools? How about Florida’s new ‘don’t say gay’ bill? We’re still being persecuted in parts of the US and not enough is being done about it,” tweeted Twitter user Charles Veselsky.
Another Twitter user focused on the majority of Republicans who voted against the bill.
“The media keeps covering Republican hatred like it is normal. No, don't say bipartisan. Say, only 6 Republicans were anti-hate today,” she wrote.
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