Did Trump Keep His Promise to End the Criminalization of Homosexuality Worldwide? Or Did That Pledge Quietly Fade Away?
Written by Peter Boykin on July 9, 2025
Did Trump Keep His Promise to End the Criminalization of Homosexuality Worldwide?
Or Did That Pledge Quietly Fade Away?
#GoRightNews Shared by Peter Boykin
American Political Commentator / Citizen Journalist / Activist / Constitutionalist for Liberty
Did Trump Keep His Promise to End the Criminalization of Homosexuality Worldwide? Or Did That Pledge Quietly Fade Away?
By Peter Boykin — GayRightNews.com | GaysForTrump.org
When it comes to LGBTQ issues and American conservatism, few topics spark more confusion, spin, and half-remembered headlines than President Donald Trump’s once-bold promise to help end the criminalization of homosexuality worldwide.
Recently, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to renew the mandate of its independent LGBTQ expert, who investigates anti-LGBTQ abuses, including nations that still criminalize same-sex relationships.
The vote passed 29–15, with three abstentions. But this time, the United States, under President Trump, was not among the supporters, reversing its prior stance under President Biden. (There is more explanation in this article as to why)
That has many wondering: Did Trump break his 2019 vow? Was it ever more than words? And where do we stand today in this fight for fundamental freedom?
The Promise: Trump’s 2019 UN Speech
Let’s rewind to September 24, 2019.
Standing before the world at the 74th United Nations General Assembly, President Trump did something no American president had done so directly on that stage: he condemned the criminalization of homosexuality around the world and pledged U.S. action to stop it.
Here’s the exact quote, word for word, from the official White House transcript:
“As we defend American values, we affirm the right of all people to live in dignity. For this reason, my administration is working with other nations to stop criminalizing homosexuality and stand up for the rights of LGBTQ people.
— President Donald J. Trump, UNGA, Sept. 24, 2019
[ Full transcript here]
That moment was historic. No sitting president, not Bush, not Obama, had said that so plainly in a formal UNGA address. For LGBTQ conservatives and gay Republicans, it was a moment of genuine pride: the leader of the free world speaking directly against laws that jail, torture, and even execute people for being gay.
[The Trump administration launches global effort to end criminalization of homosexuality]
The Man Behind the Push: Ambassador Richard Grenell
The big push behind this promise came from Richard Grenell, Trump’s Ambassador to Germany, and the highest-ranking openly gay man to serve in a Republican administration.
Richard Grenell personally launched the diplomatic push to pressure nations where loving someone of the same sex is still a crime punishable by prison or death.
In February 2019, months before the UN speech, Grenell announced a global campaign to end criminalization. He hosted a closed-door dinner in Berlin with European LGBTQ activists, human rights advocates, and allied diplomats.
Grenell organized strategy dinners in Berlin, rallied European diplomats, and made headlines telling the world that criminalizing homosexuality is unacceptable. This was not a quiet pledge; it was a public declaration that the U.S. would stand for freedom not just at home, but everywhere.
His message was blunt:
“Seventy countries still have laws making homosexuality illegal, we think that’s wrong. This is a bipartisan push. People understand, religious people, individuals who may not always get along on other political issues, that criminalizing homosexuality is unacceptable.”
— Richard Grenell,
[Reuters Interview]
(https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt-diplomacy-idUSKCN1Q82KD)
Grenell’s initiative framed the effort as both a human rights stand and a pressure point against regimes like Iran, where gay men have been publicly executed. The goal was to rally European allies to apply diplomatic pressure, share intelligence, and convince countries to scrap these brutal laws.
How Did It Go? Receipts and Realities
So did the push work?
In truth: not really, and not for lack of trying. The push remained mostly Grenell’s pet diplomatic effort. There were no new sanctions. No direct aid conditionally. There is no large budget to support local activists or safe houses in countries with anti-gay laws.
Behind the scenes, U.S. embassies in Europe did meet with activists and allies. Although the big hammer, tying U.S. aid or trade to repeal these laws, never came.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration domestically cut other LGBTQ protections at the same time:
* The transgender military ban was reinstated.
* The Department of Education rolled back protections for transgender students.
* The Health and Human Services Department rewrote rules affecting LGBTQ+ healthcare nondiscrimination.
These items have left major LGBTQ rights groups skeptical.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a mostly perceived “leftist organization,” put it bluntly:
“If this White House is truly serious about protecting LGBTQ people, they should reverse their record of dismantling LGBTQ rights at home and abroad.”
[HRC Statement]
(https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/hrc-statement-on-reports-of-trump-administration-effort-to-decriminalize-homosexuality)
– NOTE THIS NO LONGER LINKS TO THE PRESS RELEASE
– Unable to Find a Trace (opinion: The HRC would rather not acknowledge Trump did anything positive for the Gay community, they have been known to erase traces of their stances against Transgenders in the past as well)
In its place, I have found this:
[HRC report lays out distinct Trump & Biden LGBTQ+ records]
(https://www.advocate.com/news/hrc-biden-trump-lgbtq-policies)
ILGA World, a major global LGBTQ federation, was similarly cautious:
“While any steps to end criminalization are good in principle, this must not come at the cost of ignoring other structural and legal barriers to LGBTQ equality.”
[ ILGA Reaction]
(https://ilga.org/US-decriminalise-homosexuality-campaign-Grenell)
-NOTE: NO LONGER CAN LOCATE THIS
I found this instead:
[Media Note: Decriminalizing Sexual Orientation
UNITED STATES MISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS
OFFICE OF PRESS AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY]
(https://usun.usmission.gov/media-note-decriminalizing-sexual-orientation/)
How Biden Picked Up the Torch, Then What?
When President Biden came into office in 2021, he rejoined the UN Human Rights Council and signed a sweeping LGBTQI+ foreign policy directive, funded global LGBTQ initiatives, and ordered all embassies to make decriminalization part of their core diplomatic work.
[ Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Around the World]
This memo directed all U.S. embassies to:
* Make decriminalization of homosexuality a formal diplomatic priority.
* Include LGBTQ rights in annual human rights reports.
* Support local LGBTQ activists with U.S. funding and capacity-building.
Biden also voted to renew the UN LGBTQ abuses monitor, which was just renewed again despite the U.S. pulling back this time under Trump.
✅ Why the U.S. did not back the recent U.N. LGBTQ monitoring vote
What the vote was: The U.N. Human Rights Council has an independent role called the Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, or SOGI. This expert investigates abuses against LGBTQ people around the world. The job includes monitoring countries that criminalize same-sex relationships, tracking violence and discrimination, and supporting local activists who need global attention.
Every few years, that mandate comes up for renewal. This time it passed 29 to 15, with three abstentions. Countries like Germany, South Africa, Chile, and Kenya supported it. Some African and Islamic bloc countries opposed it. The United States did not participate in or support the renewal.
Why the U.S. under Trump did not back it
1️⃣ The U.S. withdrew from the Human Rights Council during Trump’s first term
In 2018, the Trump administration under Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pulled the U.S. out of the Council completely. The official reason was that the Council was biased, especially against Israel, and allowed authoritarian regimes to sit on it while lecturing democracies. Trump’s State Department called it a “cesspool of political bias.”
2️⃣ Biden rejoined, but Trump left it again in 2025
When Biden took office, the U.S. rejoined the Council in 2021. But when Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, his administration quickly pulled the U.S. back out again. Trump’s team again argued that the Council was ineffective, biased, and hypocritical. Right now, the U.S. does not have an active seat and cannot cast a yes or no vote.
3️⃣ The current administration’s foreign policy does not prioritize LGBTQ monitoring through the U.N.
Domestically, the administration has focused on rolling back DEI offices and certain transgender-focused policies with the stated goal of restoring fairness or pushing back on what it calls radical gender ideology. On the international side, Trump’s State Department is more focused on trade, national security, and religious freedom than on LGBTQ-specific watchdog mandates through the U.N.
4️⃣ The administration sees this as mission drift
Trump’s circle argues that the LGBTQ monitor pushes Western social values onto countries that do not accept them, especially conservative or religious-majority nations. The administration’s approach is that direct talks or bilateral pressure are more effective than funding a U.N. post that writes public reports.
👉 Big picture:
The United States did not technically vote against the mandate because it no longer has a vote. But it also did not show up to support it in any other way. The renewal went forward without the U.S., which shows other countries still see the mandate as important for exposing criminalization and abuse.
Under Trump 2025, the original 2019 promise to help end the criminalization of homosexuality worldwide is not an active policy priority anymore, and that is why the U.S. did not help renew this international watchdog.
Under Trump 2025, the U.S. has stepped away from this global LGBTQ monitoring role at the U.N. The original 2019 pledge (via Trump’s UN speech and Grenell’s push) to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide is not an active policy priority now, and that’s why the U.S. didn’t help renew this watchdog.
Where We Stand — July 2025
Yet, here in 2025, the U.N. just voted to renew its LGBTQ abuses monitoring, without the US.
So the promise Trump made, bold and historic, is now effectively on the shelf. Essentially, the U.S. under Trump has once again stepped back, citing bias and bureaucratic inefficiency, leaving that fight to allies like Germany, Chile, Kenya, and others.
Today, we face an undeniable reality:
* The words from 2019 are still on the record; that vow at the UN did happen.
* The original push by Grenell made headlines but didn’t dismantle a single anti-gay law.
* The U.S. today, under Trump 2025, is no longer supporting the UN LGBTQ monitor.
* Domestically, new executive orders target transgender protections and dismantle Diversity, Equity & Inclusion structures in government and some private sectors.
* The administration says it’s about restoring fairness, but many LGBTQ advocates say it makes vulnerable communities less safe.
So, Did Trump Keep His Promise?
He made it, publicly, that’s a fact.
He started a push, also true, although the push never fully materialized into the kind of global muscle America uses when we’re serious, sanctions, aid leverage, big diplomacy.
And today, it’s not an active priority at all. The same Trump administration that once pledged to fight anti-gay laws is now stepping away from the world’s main LGBTQ monitoring effort.
What Does This Mean for Us?
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Freedom doesn’t defend itself. Whether you’re gay, straight, or something else entirely, you deserve to live without fear of prison or execution for who you love.
We should always applaud a president who stands up at the UN and says that criminalizing homosexuality is wrong. But we should also demand that they back it up with policy, funding, and sustained pressure.
Gays For Trump was built on the idea that gay conservatives can stand for freedom without embracing the far-left rainbow industrial complex. We want Constitutional liberty, not rainbow virtue signals that vanish when the cameras turn off.
#GoRight with Peter Boykin: Constitutional Liberty Cuts Both Ways
This isn’t about cheerleading or demonizing Trump; it’s about Constitutional realism. We should applaud any president who speaks boldly against countries that throw gay people in prison or worse. But, we also have to hold our leaders to their word.
In America, we cherish free speech and equal protection under the law. If we believe it’s wrong for Iran to hang gay men from cranes, we should say it. If we want to influence those regimes, we should show strength through consistent diplomacy, not just slogans.
Gays For Trump has always stood for LGBTQ freedom without the far-left political baggage. It’s not about rainbow hashtags, it’s about making sure our community isn’t thrown back into the shadows, abroad or at home.
So, did Trump keep his vow?
He pledged. He started the push. But today, it’s fair to say that effort is on the shelf.
If you follow the receipts, and we do here at #GoRight and #GayRight, the reality is this push never got the teeth it needed to force change:
* There were no new sanctions for countries that refused.
* No real threat to cut off U.S. foreign aid if these brutal laws stayed on the books.
* No major funding for local LGBTQ activists on the ground fighting these regimes from within.
The next question is ours to answer: Will we demand that any American president, Trump, Biden, or whoever’s next, actually stand up for LGBTQ freedom worldwide and here at home?
Our Message To President Trump:
Thank you for saying it in 2019.
We still expect you, or whoever holds power next, to mean it now.
No more silence about regimes that hang gay men or jail lesbians for loving the wrong person.
No more pretending “family values” stop at the water’s edge.
Freedom is freedom, or it’s nothing at all.
Peter Boykin — Founder, Gays For Trump | #GoRight with Peter Boykin
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#GoRight, #GaysForTrump, #ConstitutionalLiberty, #DecriminalizeLove, #LGBTQFreedom, #Trump2025, #StopTheSilence, #GaysGoRight, #GoRightNews, #GayRightNews
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