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Global Respect Act Archives – Concerned Women for America

House Passes Deceptive Global Respect Act

By | International, Legislative Updates, News and Events | No Comments

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3485, the so-called Global Respect Act, a duplicative and overly broad bill that could give the U.S. State Department the authority to blacklist and bar U.S. entry of any foreigner holding legitimate views against homosexuality or gender identity ideology. Just six Republicans joined all Democrats in supporting the legislation.

Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) recognizes the inherent dignity and value of all persons before God and condemns the unjust imprisonment, abduction, or acts of violence towards any human regardless of their identity. The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act places robust penalties on those who engage in these abuses, and the Administration must ensure that this law is adequately enforced. Ambiguous language in the Global Respect Act could wrongfully label objections to same-sex marriage, dangerous medical gender transition therapies for minors, men dominating women’s sports, and more as “degrading treatment” or a denial of a person’s right to life, liberty, and security.

Further, this deceptively titled bill gives the U.S. government latitude to impose a radical ideological agenda on foreign governments and their citizens, squelching legitimate conscience rights and depriving nations of the power to govern according to their values. The Global Respect Act establishes weapons of intimidation to persecute those who refuse to express Biblically foundational views on sex and the family. This cannot stand.

As Neydy Casillas, Esq., Concerned Women for America’s Vice President of International Affairs recently said:

“The protection and respect of fundamental freedom are essential for a society to flourish. All human beings are born equal in dignity. To respect, promote, and guarantee fundamental freedom is a role of government, but to do so, governments should use legitimate ways that promote understanding and peace among individuals and nations. H.R. 3485 threatens those ideals by injecting partisan politics into a very delicate area of international relations. The harmful consequences could be significant.”

H.R. 3485 now heads over to the Senate. CWALAC will continue to beat the drum on the dangers of this bill, especially under interpretation from the Biden Administration, which continues to display utter contempt for those upholding timeless truths about humanity. The Global Respect Act threatens democratic processes and fundamental freedoms abroad, but it also sets clear precedent for our leaders to peddle the same injustices here at home. Americans must reject this at all costs.

CWALAC Opposition to the Global Respect Act

By | National Sovereignty, News and Events, Religious Liberty | No Comments

Please email, call, or tweet (perhaps all three) your representative through our Action Center HERE and urge him or her to oppose this weapon of intimidation to persecute those holding differing views on biological sex, marriage, and the family. Vote NO on H.R. 3485, the Global Respect Act.

The problem that the current Global Respect Act claims to resolve is already addressed in and covered by the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which imposes robust sanctions on those who engage in human rights abuses. 

The Global Respect Act purports to protect the rights of those who identify themselves as LGBTQI, but in essence, it undermines rights to freedom of conscience and religious belief for those who disagree. The bill could be used to punish individuals for viewpoints on sexual behavior and gender as a “flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty or the security of such persons.”  Moreover, H.R. 3485 threatens countries’ democratic processes and risks peace between nations.

The protection and respect of fundamental freedom are essential for a society to flourish. All human beings are born equal in dignity. To respect, promote, and guarantee fundamental freedom is a role of government, but to do so, governments should use legitimate ways that promote understanding and peace among individuals and nations.

As drafted, the current Global Respect Act does not promote respect. Instead, it creates a method of ideological colonization in which the U.S. government attempts to impose an agenda upon governments and individuals, undermining legitimate freedoms of expression and belief and attacking counties’ national sovereignty. 

People continue to be persecuted for their religious beliefs about marriage–declaring the sacred union between one man and one woman—or the biological reality of being male or female. Priests, pastors, and other individuals are accused of hate speech when they respectfully express their rights of conscience and beliefs. As written, the so-called Global Respect Act provides a weapon, using intimidation as the method to persecute those who maintain historically accepted, Biblically foundational, and scientifically accurate beliefs concerning human sex and sexuality. H.R. 3485 requires the State Department to blacklist individuals whom it accuses of causing “restrictions on the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms in foreign countries based on actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics.”  

Beyond sanctioning individuals, the language included within the bill could be used as a pretext to pressure countries to legalize same-sex marriage, adoption for same-sex couples, legalization of gender-affirming therapies for minors, and more.

Although this bill has not yet been enacted, we have received information that in the Dominican Republic, lawmakers have been threatened by the U.S. government with taking away their visas for not including sexual orientation and gender identity within their new criminal laws.

Countries worldwide, including the United States, are debating these issues, and they should not be punished because they are acting in respect of legitimate differences of opinion and internal democratic processes. 

International law is based upon the fundamental principles of non-intervention and sovereign equality for all countries. As drafted, the Global Respect Act infringes on these principles.

Just as the U.S. government demands respect for its institutions and representatives and for the self-determination of peoples, we as a nation have an obligation to respect the national sovereignty of other nations.