Signaling the importance of global LGBTQ issues, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Global Respect Act. The bill, introduced by gay Congressmember David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island), passed on a vote of 227-206 February 9. It has now been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has bipartisan support in the upper chamber of Congress. Under the bill, the State Department would be tasked with tracking violence against LGBTQ people around the world. It could also deny or revoke visas for foreign perpetrators — individuals and state actors — based on human rights laws, preventing them from entering the United States.