# 116-hr-8809: LOVE Act of 2020

116-hr-8809, LOVE Act of 2020, is a 116th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] (D-TX); status Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-8809
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 116-hr-8809
- Congress: 116
- Title: LOVE Act of 2020
- Status: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
- Introduced: 2020-11-24
- Sponsor: Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] (D-TX)
- Cosponsors: 19
- Policy area: International Affairs
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Lavender Offense Victim Exoneration Act of 2020 or the LOVE Act of 2020 This bill offers a formal apology from Congress for encouraging policies at the Department of State such as the Lavender Scare, which resulted in the wrongful termination of at least 1,000 people for alleged homosexuality. The State Department must (1) review all employee terminations that occurred as a consequence of the Lavender Scare to identify who was wrongfully terminated for their real or perceived sexual orientation, and (2) issue a public report on the findings. The State Department shall establish an independent Reconciliation Board to contact any employee (or a family member of a deceased employee) improperly terminated during the Lavender Scare and offer to change the employee's record to reflect this finding. The board shall accept and review petitions from former employees who believe they were terminated due to sexual orientation. The State Department shall establish a board of senior-level officials to address issues that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) Foreign Service employees and their families face. The board shall report comments on or recommendations for improving State Department policies to prevent sexual orientation discrimination. The State Department shall report on (1) countries that do not issue spousal visas for Foreign Service employee spouses due to sexual orientation, and (2) recommendations on how to address this.

## Cosponsors (19)

- Rep. Sherman, Brad [D-CA-32] (D-CA), 2020-11-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cicilline, David N. [D-RI-1] (D-RI), 2020-11-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] (D-MA), 2020-11-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lowenthal, Alan S. [D-CA-47] (D-CA), 2020-11-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2020-11-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Haaland, Debra A. [D-NM-1] (D-NM), 2020-11-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN), 2020-11-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8] (D-MA), 2020-12-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Scanlon, Mary Gay [D-PA-5] (D-PA), 2020-12-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Hastings, Alcee L. [D-FL-20] (D-FL), 2020-12-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA), 2020-12-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6] (D-NY), 2020-12-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-10] (D-CA), 2020-12-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice [D-TX-30] (D-TX), 2020-12-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grijalva, Raúl M. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2020-12-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Higgins, Brian [D-NY-26] (D-NY), 2020-12-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (D-NJ), 2020-12-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (D-CA), 2020-12-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kildee, Daniel T. [D-MI-8] (D-MI), 2020-12-18T00:00:00.000Z

## Related bills

- 116-hr-8015: Delivering for America Act
- 116-hr-7120: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020
- 116-hr-4104: Negro Leagues Baseball Centennial Commemorative Coin Act
- 116-hr-2694: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
- 116-hr-2474: Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019
- 116-hr-2420: National Museum of the American Latino Act

## Sources
- [116-hr-8809 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/8809)

## Related
- [116-hr-8015: Delivering for America Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-8015)
- [116-hr-7120: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-7120)
- [116-hr-4104: Negro Leagues Baseball Centennial Commemorative Coin Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-4104)
- [116-hr-2694: Pregnant Workers Fairness Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-2694)
- [116-hr-2474: Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-2474)
- [116-hr-2420: National Museum of the American Latino Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-2420)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/116-hr-8809 (as of 2025-11-18).