LGBTQI+ rights reportedly were at the forefront of U.S. foreign policy under then-President Joe Biden.
Newly obtained internal State Department emails indicate the Biden administration made advancing LGBTQI+ rights a central component of American diplomacy, according to a report by The Washington Free Beacon.
The records, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Center to Advance Security in America, detailed the work of a then-special envoy to advance the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons, Jessica Stern, who repeatedly described integrating LGBTQI+ issues throughout the State Department.
"The hard work of integrating LGBTQI rights into everything we do," Stern wrote in one email describing her mission, according to the Free Beacon.
The report said Stern relaunched an internal LGBTQI task force to train diplomats, coordinate policy across the State Department, and expand programs supporting LGBTQI advocacy overseas.
Internal correspondence also shows efforts to increase taxpayer-funded initiatives for LGBTQI migrants, refugees, and advocacy organizations.
According to the emails, Stern promoted the State Department's "X" gender marker for passports after its 2021 introduction and encouraged foreign governments, including Taiwan, to adopt similar policies while advocating broader recognition of transgender identities.
The documents also indicate Stern sought closer cooperation with Germany to expand international funding for LGBTQI causes and expressed concerns over what her office viewed as insufficient protections for transgender individuals in the United Kingdom.
Staff members also discussed limiting public attention to what they described as "anti-gender movements" amid growing criticism of the administration's policies.
The findings align with the Biden administration's public statements.
At a State Department conference in June 2024, then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that "LGBTQI+ rights are human rights" and argued promoting those rights was "profoundly in our national interest" and vital to U.S. national security.
Biden wrote in a letter to attendees that protecting LGBTQI rights strengthens democracy, security, and economic development, while Stern said the administration viewed the issue as a fundamental question of good governance and foreign policy.
CASA Director James Fitzpatrick told the Free Beacon the documents demonstrate that diversity, equity, and LGBTQI initiatives became a central focus of the Biden administration's diplomatic agenda, arguing they often overshadowed traditional national security priorities.
The Trump administration has reversed many of those policies.
State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott told the Free Beacon the department is now focused on advancing "the national interests of the American people," guided by Secretary of State Marco Rubio's standard of whether policies make America "safer, stronger, or more prosperous."
The administration has also ended the option for passport applicants to select a gender marker other than male or female and dismantled numerous diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the federal government.