Biden Administration Timeline: Restore U.S. Foreign Policy Around Human Rights Including Protections for SRHR and LGBTQIA+ Communities

After the damage caused by the previous administration, the Biden-Harris administration must do more than reverse harmful policies—it must also restore and advance rights. In that vein, Equity Forward developed a series of transition recommendations for SRHR and LGBTQIA+ communities. Many of these recommendations were developed in collaboration with broader coalitions supporting the sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice movements, as well as the broader human rights sphere and groups working to protect science and evidence-based policymaking.

Building on our timeline of policy changes within the Biden-Harris administration’s first 100 days, this fact sheet chronicles a timeline of the administration’s progress in restoring U.S. foreign policy around human rights including protections for SRHR and LGBTQIA+ communities. The timeline encompasses our transition recommendations to “Restore U.S. Foreign Aid and Diplomacy Around Human Rights Including Reproductive Health'' and to “Restore U.S. Compliance with International Human Rights Law Including Protections for SRHR and LGBTQ People.” For example, we are tracking policies such as the repeal of the Global Gag Rule and the State Department’s withdrawal from the anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQIA+ Geneva Consensus Declaration, as well as lingering effects of Mike Pompeo’s now-disbanded Commission on Unalienable Rights. Equity Forward is also tracking the Biden-Harris administration officials creating and implementing these policies. This research is featured on HHS Watch and Global Spotlight.

This fact sheet was originally published on June 30, 2021; its timeline is periodically updated.