LGBTQ+ members of Congress demand Marco Rubio restore queer human rights violation tracking

The Congressional Equality Caucus has demanded Secretary of State Marco Rubio restore international support for LGBTQ+ rights.

Several of the Caucus’ out co-chairs — Democratic U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Julie Johnson of Texas and Sarah McBride of Delaware — led a letter to Rubio after the State Department removed data on the treatment of gay and sexual minorities from its annual report on the state of human rights in other countries.

“We strongly oppose your decision to remove the subsection on Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC Subsection) from the State Department’s Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” the letter states.

“We urge you to restore this information, or else ensure it is integrated throughout each Human Rights Report. We are also deeply concerned about the broader rollback of the section on Discrimination and Societal Abuses which has existed for many years—including during the first Trump administration.”

Rubio, a long-time opponent of LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S., previously criticized Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration for denouncing U.S. allies with terrible LGBTQ+ human rights records. He has not publicly addressed the omissions from the most recent country reports.

But he also, as a U.S. senator, criticized countries and terrorist organizations with histories of executing LGBTQ people, something noted in the letter.

“As Senator you condemned the Chechen government’s brutal campaign against LGBTQI+ people. In your words, the ‘United States and other responsible nations should do more to ensure that all people are protected and those who harm them are held responsible’ and that ‘we should use our voice on the global stage to call attention to these horrifying acts and to ensure that they are condemned in an appropriate way, ultimately in the hopes that they will be stopped.’ As Secretary of State, you have an obligation to ensure the United States does not retreat from these efforts,” the letter states.

Garcia was elected as Ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee this year. Johnson, the first out lawmaker representing a southern state, and McBride, the first transgender lawmaker elected to Congress, both won election to federal office last year.

The letter was signed by 61 members of Congress from across the country. It said the State Department country reports represent important documentation of the state of human rights progress around the globe.

“The information in these reports is critical—not just for human rights advocates—but also for Americans travelling abroad. LGBTQI+ Americans and their families must continue to have access to comprehensive, reliable information about a country’s human rights record so they can plan travel and take appropriate precautions,” the letter states. “Especially for Americans who may have to travel to hostile countries for work, the SOGIESC subsection of the Human Rights Reports has provided a key tool to help minimize the risk of discrimination and violence.”