The U.S. State Department has released a heavily edited version of its annual report on human rights around the world. The report did not include any mention of LGBTQ+ rights violations and other abuses.As NPR notes, this years congressionally mandated report, which was initially prepared under the Biden administration, was delayed for months so that the State Department could remove references to categories of human rights violations not explicitly required by statute. Related Marco Rubio removes LGBTQ+ people & women from annual human rights report In March, both NPR and Politico reported on internal documents instructing State Department employees to cut references to gender-based violence, environmental justice, restrictions on political participation, government corruption, sexual violence against children, and violations of the rights of LGBTQ+ and disabled people, among scores of other human rights categories.We werent going to release something compiled and written by the previous administration, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during a Tuesday press briefing, according to the Washington Blade, adding that the report needed to be changed to fit the view and vision of the current president. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today NPR reports that the report released Tuesday is about one-third the length of last years and does not include categories of human rights violations that have been included since the 1970s. The outlet also noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to hold the usual public briefing on the annual report, a move that drew criticism from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.When he was a member of the Senate, he used to stand up and support an American foreign policy based on promoting democracy and human rights, Van Hollen told NPR. But ever since he was confirmed, he seems to have forgotten all that. As the Blade notes, sections on Uganda and Hungary make no mention of those countries sweeping anti-LGBTQ+ laws and restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights, though its section on Russia does note that in 2024, authorities invoked the countrys law banning propaganda on nontraditional sexual relations to children which has been used to suppress expression of LGBTQ+ identity and to target LGBTQ+ rights groups as extremist organizations.Critics blasted the edits to the annual report, which is used by advocacy organizations, lawyers, and others to assess political developments in foreign countries, need-based aid programs, as well as asylum claims from refugees fleeing persecution in their home countries.During a Tuesday conference call with reporters, former Biden administration special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ+ and intersex rights and co-founder of the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice Jessica Stern said that while she and her colleagues expected the report to be bad, they were shocked and horrified by what the administration released. It is deliberate erasure, she said, according to the Blade.Out Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) accused the administration of condoning the abuse, violence, and criminalization [the LGBTQ+] community is facing around the world.Erasing our community from these reports makes it that much harder for human rights advocates, the press, and the American people to be aware of the abuses LGBTQI+ people are facing worldwide, he said in a statement, according to the Blade. Failing to rectify this censorship will have real and potentially deadly consequences for LGBTQI+ people, including both for those who travel abroad from the U.S. and for LGBTQI+ people in countries whose leadership no longer need to worry about consequences for their human rights abuses. The State Department must reverse course and restore the LGBTQI+ section to these reports. According to the Blade, the Council for Global Equality has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking the release of additional information including any instructions provided by political appointees to strip references to abuses against LGBTQI+ persons from the reports.The groups co-chair Mark Bromley said in a statement that the Council for Global Equality denounces the administrations efforts to politicize the annual reports by stripping longstanding references to human rights abuses targeting LGBTQI+ and other marginalized groups. The group also condemned the glaring omission of violence and abuse targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons in the U.S., according to the Blade.Van Hollen similarly drew a connection between the edited report and the administrations domestic policies.If the administration is going to be undermining human rights here, he told NPR, they dont want to have to report on whats happening in other countries.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.