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.
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. But 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.
Where We Stand — July 2025
Yet, here in 2025, the U.N. just voted to renew its LGBTQ abuses monitoring, with the US.
So the promise Trump made, bold, historic, real, is now effectively on the shelf. Essentially, the U.S. under Trump has once again stepped away, citing bias and wasted bureaucracy, 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.
But, 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
Learn More & Get Involved:
#GoRight #GaysForTrump #ConstitutionalLiberty #DecriminalizeLove #LGBTQFreedom #Trump2025 #StopTheSilence
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