S2231119th CongressWALLET

GLOBE Act of 2025

Sponsored By: Senator Edward Markey

Introduced

Summary

U.S. strategy to protect LGBTQI rights abroad. This bill would create diplomatic tools, funding, and legal measures to document abuses, support civil society, and restrict entry for perpetrators.

Show full summary
  • For LGBTQI people and defenders: Would establish a Global Equality Fund to provide grants, emergency aid, and technical support and a USAID-led LGBTQI Global Development Partnership to back leadership, entrepreneurship, and exchanges. It would explicitly fund protection from medically unnecessary intersex interventions.
  • For perpetrators and accountability: Would require the President to publish an unclassified list within 180 days and update it biannually. Persons on the list and their immediate family would be inadmissible to the United States and face visa revocation.
  • For U.S. policy and programs: Would create a Special Envoy and a permanent USAID Senior LGBTQI Coordinator, require LGBTQI training for PEPFAR partners and U.S.-supported law enforcement academies, and direct annual strategic reviews to prioritize decriminalization and targeted programming.

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

10 provisions identified: 8 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.

New counsel rule but tighter deadlines

If enacted, immigration courts would have to appoint a lawyer at government expense for indigent people who ask for one in removal or asylum court. At the same time, the bill would remove certain filing-deadline exceptions for asylum applications, making late filings harder to excuse. These two changes together increase legal help for some but reduce procedural flexibility for others.

More rights for LGBTQI families abroad

If enacted, the State Department would clarify within 90 days that a child born abroad using assisted reproductive technology can get U.S. citizenship at birth if local law recognizes the parent. The bill would also let some long-term permanent partners count as 'married' for immigration and allow applicants to choose a nonbinary sex marker on passports and consular birth reports.

Easier asylum and refugee access

If enacted, the bill would make it easier for people persecuted for sexual orientation or gender identity to get asylum or faster refugee processing. It would let qualifying LGBTQI refugees be eligible for Priority 2 resettlement and require refugee resettlement staff to share SOGI information with resettlement agencies when the refugee consents. The bill would also require better training for asylum interviewers to make interviews safer and fairer.

Limits on detaining vulnerable migrants

If enacted, the bill would create a presumption against detaining people in defined vulnerable groups, including many LGBTQI people. Officials must release them unless an individualized decision shows no alternatives or there is a safety or flight risk. Detained people would get weekly reviews and could be held at most five days right before removal in limited cases. The bill would also restrict segregated housing for LGBTQI detainees except when requested or necessary.

Public sanctions and visa bans for abusers

If enacted, the President would have to publish a public list, within 180 days and twice a year after that, naming foreign people responsible for severe abuses against LGBTQI persons. People on the list and their immediate family could be denied U.S. visas and existing visas revoked. The President could remove people only after notifying Congress 15 days ahead and meeting specified criteria.

Grants and rules for LGBTQI foreign aid

If enacted, the State Department would set up a Global Equality Fund to give grants and emergency help to groups protecting LGBTQI people abroad and accept private and foreign contributions. At the same time, U.S. contractors and grantees would need to make programs available to all people or return funds and face penalties if they fail. The bill would also let foreign NGOs be eligible even when their health services are paid with non-U.S. funds, so long as they follow local law.

Protecting State employees and families abroad

If enacted, the Secretary of State would be required to press other countries to grant visas and accreditation to families of LGBTQI State Department employees posted abroad. The Secretary must also try to ensure U.S.-supported overseas schools have clear nondiscrimination policies that cover sexual orientation and gender identity and add related information to post reports and bidding materials.

New U.S. diplomatic leadership on LGBTQI rights

If enacted, the bill would create an interagency group led by the Secretary of State and a permanent Special Envoy for LGBTQI human rights. USAID would add a Senior LGBTQI Coordinator and a Global Development Partnership to coordinate programs. The State Department would also require posts to report more on violence and discrimination so regional bureaus can make diplomatic plans and build capacity.

Training for foreign police academies

If enacted, any international law enforcement academy supported by U.S. assistance would have to teach about LGBTQI rights. Training must include how to document, investigate, and prosecute bias-motivated crimes and protect LGBTQI people.

PEPFAR training and health reports

If enacted, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator would be required to ensure PEPFAR equitably serves LGBTQI people and require training for all PEPFAR partners on LGBTQI health needs and human rights. Congress would get new reports within 180 days on partner notification impacts and on whether condoms or related supplies were used as evidence against people. The Comptroller General would also review effects of the Mexico City Policy on LGBTQI communities.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Edward Markey

MA • D

Cosponsors

  • Timothy Kaine

    VA • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Brian Schatz

    HI • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Christopher Coons

    DE • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Alex Padilla

    CA • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Adam Schiff

    CA • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Patty Murray

    WA • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Sheldon Whitehouse

    RI • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Christopher Murphy

    CT • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Tammy Baldwin

    WI • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Catherine Cortez Masto

    NV • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Mazie Hirono

    HI • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Jeff Merkley

    OR • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Bernie Sanders

    VT • I

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Peter Welch

    VT • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Cory Booker

    NJ • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Ron Wyden

    OR • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Jacky Rosen

    NV • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Jeanne Shaheen

    NH • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Chris Van Hollen

    MD • D

    Sponsored 7/9/2025

  • Amy Klobuchar

    MN • D

    Sponsored 7/14/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

View on Congress.gov

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