United States Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons

Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Vacant since January 20, 2025
Appointer	President of the United States
Inaugural holder	Randy W. Berry
Formation	April 13, 2015;10 years ago (2015-04-13)
Website	www.state.gov

The Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons is a position at the United States Department of State within the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. ^{[1] [2]} The office oversees the United States government's efforts to support the human rights of LGBTQI+ people around the world. ^{[3] [4]}

History

The Office was created during the tenure of United States Secretary of State John Kerry. ^[5] The first Special Envoy was Randy W. Berry, who was sworn in on April 13, 2015, and served until November 2017. ^[6]

The post was vacant until June 2021, ^{[7] [8]} when President Joe Biden announced that he would appoint Jessica Stern to the position. ^[9]

This position is vacant upon the inauguration of the second Donald Trump administration.

List

No.	Portrait	Officeholder	Term start	Term end	President
1		Randy W. Berry	April 13, 2015	November 2017		Barack Obama
vacant
2		Jessica Stern	September 27, 2021	January 20, 2025		Joe Biden
vacant

References

1. "Randy Berry Appointed America's first Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Persons - Council for Global Equality". www.globalequality.org. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
2. brian (February 23, 2015). "Statement by IGLHRC on the Appointment of a Special Envoy on LGBTI Rights by the United States". Global LGBT Human Rights Organization. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
3. Campaign, Human Rights. "HRC Applauds Appointment of Randy Berry as State Department's First Ever LGBT Human Rights Envoy". Human Rights Campaign. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
4. Monsen, Lauren (June 2, 2015). "Randy Berry, US special envoy for LGBTI rights". ShareAmerica. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
5. "What's Special about the US "Special Envoy" for LGBT Rights?". Amnesty International USA. February 27, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
6. "Berry, Randy W." U.S. Department of State. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
7. "Exclusive: First diplomat for LGBT rights speaks out". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
8. "U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin Prevents Trump Administration's Efforts to Eliminate LGBTI Rights as U.S. Foreign Policy Priority". www.baldwin.senate.gov. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
9. Donald Judd and Kate Sullivan. "President Joe Biden appoints Jessica Stern special envoy for LGBTQ rights". CNN. Retrieved September 21, 2021.

External links

• Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons