U.S. House Prepares to Penalize Foreign Opponents of LGBT Agenda

By | February 3, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. February 3 (C-Fam) Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are preparing to intimidate and even punish foreign opponents of the homosexual/trans agenda. The issue was debated in the House Rules Committee this week as Congress considers the Global Respect Act.

Proponents say the Act will impose penalties for violations of human rights committed against individuals who identify as homosexual or trans. Republicans agreed that human rights violators should be punished but they argue the bill threatens religious freedom and it politically targets opponents of LGBT policies around the world, including religious leaders and concerned parents of transgender children.

Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (R-NY), who testified for the Republican minority on the Rules Committee, said other federal laws already protect individuals from human rights abuses, regardless of their sexual preferences or behavior. She said the bill was at best a “publicity stunt” and a “messaging bill” to silence opponents of homosexual marriage and LGBTQI+ policies around the world.

Tenney pointed out that the U.S. State Department had opposed the bill as “duplicative and unnecessary” and warned that the bill would impose onerous bureaucratic requirements.

Democrats defended the bill as a way to “send a message” to those who violate the rights of homosexual or trans individuals and promised that it would not be used to curtail religious freedom or freedom of speech.

Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said the law could only be used to prosecute human rights abusers “for their actions, not for their speech.”

Tenney said such guarantees from Democrats rang hollow. “We cannot assume it will not be used for partisan political ends. Regardless of intent it will be used to target religious and ideological opponents in the culture wars.”

Tenney said the language in the bill about who was “complicit” in human rights abuses was vague enough to be used to deter free speech and freedom of religion. It could cover the Pope’s views on marriage as the sacred union of a man and a woman as well as political opposition to transgender policies in school bathrooms and organized sports, she explained.

She accused Democrats of betraying their intention because the original version of the bill introduced in the House had even broader language that explicitly covered “incitement.”

Democrats were not willing to allow an amendment on the bill to prohibit the application of the law against the expression of religious views on “marriage, the family, or human biology and sexuality,” offered by Congressman Scott Perry (R-PA).

In response, Tenney said Democrats only “preach tolerance until they are asked to vote for it” and accused them of “pushing the envelope on culture wars issues at every juncture not only domestically but also abroad.”

The Republican amendment on religious freedom was rejected by the Rules Committee along party lines.

International human rights mechanisms routinely accuse religious leaders of being complicit in hatred and violence through religious doctrines in favor of marriage between of a man and a woman and for opposing transgender policies for children.

During the committee hearing, Republicans also accused Democrats of avoiding more urgent human rights debates. Representative Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) called the Global Respect Act a “distraction from what we should be doing which is holding China accountable.”

The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives announced a vote on the bill for the week of February 7.

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