House Republicans Stack State Department Funding Bill With Anti-lgbtq+ Provisions

Kowtowing to the president in his ongoing anti-LGBTQ+ crusade, Republicans in the House of Representatives for a second year in a row stacked the State Department’s annual funding appropriation bill with multiple “poison pills” aimed at gay and trans people. The provisions have been denounced by Democrats.

“None of these riders make our world any safer,” said Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus. “It’s beyond shameful that the Republican majority has again tainted this vitally important bill with these poison pill riders.”

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Takano’s comments came on Wednesday after the House passed  H.R. 8595, the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2027, which contains six anti-LGBTQ+ riders pushed by the White House and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The Equality Caucus detailed the contents of each rider. Most prominently, Section 7067(a) of the legislation prohibits flying or displaying the Pride flag over a facility of the United States Department of State, a policy emblematic of the administration’s efforts to erase LGBTQ+ identity and any acknowledgment of the community from the federal government both at home and around the world.

Section 7067(d) continues the rescission of nondiscrimination protections for federal contractors for State Department business at home and abroad, including protections for LGBTQ+ people, while Section 7064(c)(4) targets the State Department position of U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons. Republicans have set their sights on permanently eliminating the post, which is currently vacant.

Two riders target trans people around the world. Section 7067(e) bans funding for organizations that provide or promote medically necessary care to transgender people, or that even acknowledge that transgender people exist. Section 7067(g) reinforces the so-called Trans Global Gag Rule, which prohibits foreign assistance funding for organizations that acknowledge trans people’s existence or advocate for nondiscrimination protections, among other activities.

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The same rider targets the DEI Global Gag Rule, barring foreign assistance funding for organizations if they engage in any activities that seek to address the ongoing effects of racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry outside of the United States, including anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.

Finally, Section 7067(i) creates a license for federal employees and organizations at home and abroad receiving taxpayer funds to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people by preventing the federal government from adequately responding to anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination through actions like terminating federal grants or terminating an employee when discrimination occurs.

“Once again, the GOP majority hijacked a critical government funding bill and added terrible riders that prohibit foreign assistance funds for organizations that acknowledge transgender people exist, enable anti-LGBTQI+ discrimination, and signal the United States’ retreat from our position on the world stage as a defender of human rights,” Takano said. “My colleagues in the Equality Caucus and I will continue fighting to prevent this bill’s anti-LGBTQI+ riders from becoming law.”

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