DFL Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum, and Sen. Al Franken are co-sponsors of a bill that will make LGBT rights a priority for the U.S. State Department.

The bill, called the International Human Rights Defense Act, would make LGBT rights a priority in the U.S. State Department, and empower it to respond to discrimination across the globe,” the Advocate reports. “To this end, it will require the State Department to add an LGBT section to its annual human rights report, as well as a position dedicated to monitoring violence against this community.”

Specifically, it would create a “Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBT Peoples.”

A press release from Sen. Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts who authored the bill, noted that “More than 80 nations around the world have laws that criminalize homosexuality, prohibit public support for the LGBT community, or promote homophobia. In seven countries, homosexuality is punishable by death.”

“When President Obama addressed the nation and committed to defending the human rights of the LGBT community, we made that commitment to the world,” Markey said. “With the rights of the LGBT community under attack around the globe, we must stand hand-in-hand with them in the struggle for recognition and equality everywhere. It is vital to have a dedicated position at the State Department spearheading that effort. The International Human Rights Defense Act will promote a coordinated effort across the federal government to support our position as a model for defending LGBT and human rights around the world, and I thank Rep. Lowenthal for his partnership on this important legislation.”

Rep. Alan Lowenthal, a Democrat from California who authored the bill in the House, said, “We must do what we can as a nation to enforce the precept that all human beings, regardless of where they live, are entitled to a basic set of human rights which include the right to love who they choose without fear of punishment or death. LGBT rights are human rights.”