; Whereas LGBTQ individuals in the United States, in particular transgender individuals, face a disproportionately high risk of becoming victims of violent hate crimes; Whereas members of the LGBTQ community have been targeted in acts of mass violence, including— (1) the Club Q nightclub shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on November 19, 2022, where 5 people were killed and 25 people were wounded; (2) the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016, where 49 people were killed and 53 people were wounded; and (3) the arson attack at the UpStairs Lounge in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 24, 1973, where 32 people died; Whereas LGBTQ individuals face persecution, violence, and death in many parts of the world, including State-sponsored violence like in Uganda, where LGBTQ people live under threat of the death penalty; Whereas, in the several years preceding 2019, hundreds of LGBTQ individuals around the world were arrested and, in some cases, tortured or even executed because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity in countries and territories such as Chechnya, Egypt, Indonesia, and Tanzania; Whereas, in May 2019, Taiwan became the first place in Asia to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples; Whereas, since June 2019, Ecuador, Northern Ireland, and Costa Rica have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples, the most recent country-wide extensions of those rights in the world; Whereas the LGBTQ community holds Pride festivals and marches in some of the most dangerous places in the world, despite threats of violence and arrest; Whereas, in 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (division E of Public Law 111–84 ; 123 Stat. 2835) into law to protect all individuals in the United States from crimes motivated by their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity; Whereas LGBTQ individuals in the United States have fought for equal treatment, dignity, and respect