On April 22, the U.S. State Department released its 2023 global human-rights report.

According to the department's website, "The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements. The U.S. Department of State submits reports on all countries receiving assistance and all United Nations member states to the U.S. Congress in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Trade Act of 1974."

The preface covers various current conflicts, stating, for example, "The Kremlin's disregard and contempt for human rights are on full display in its war against Ukraine." It also says, "Across Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have unleashed horrific violence, death, and destruction, including mass killings, unjust detentions, rape, and other forms of gender-based violence" and that "the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues to raise deeply troubling concerns for human rights."

For 2023, section 6 continues to contain information on abuses against LGBTQI+ individuals, while deleting "Sexual Harassment" (now part of "Other Forms of Gender-based Violence or Harassment)," "Gender-based Sex Selection," and "Displaced Children" as distinct sections.

Various countries continue to implement anti-LGBTQ+ harassment and more severe practices, according to the report. For example, in addition to its Anti-Homosexuality Law, human-rights groups have reported that, in Uganda, LGBTQI+ people have been subjected to forced anal exams. In some countries (including Brazil and Nigeria), so-called corrective rape of LGBTQI+ people is not criminalized. And in Iraq last September, militias from the Iran-aligned and government-affiliated Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) allegedly shot and killed a popular TikTok gay personality and makeup artist Noor Alsaffar in Baghdad.

However, encouraging developments are also in the report. It states, "although members of marginalized and minority communities continued to suffer disproportionately from human-rights violations and abuses in 2023, several countries made progress. Kenya affirmed that freedom of expression and of assembly extend to LGBTQI+ persons. Japan enacted a bill to promote understanding of LGBTQI+ issues. LGBTQI+ persons in Estonia and Slovenia now benefit from legislation recognizing marriage equality."

The report is at Website Link Here .

—Andrew Davis