advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons around the world . (14) On February 23, 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry appointed senior diplomat Randy Berry as the Department of State’s first-ever Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons. No person was named to that position during the Trump Administration. (15) On June 25, 2021, President Joe Biden announced the appointment of Jessica Stern to serve as the United States Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons. She joined the Department of State on September 27, 2021. (16) On June 30, 2016, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution cosponsored by the United States that established an Independent Expert on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity to help monitor and track discrimination and violence experienced by LGBTQI+ persons around the world. (17) In May 2020, the United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity released a report on so-called conversion therapy , which is an umbrella term used to describe interventions based on a belief that a person's sexual orientation or gender identity can and should be changed. The report concluded that such practices represent significant violations of rights to personal autonomy, health, and free expression and are by their very nature degrading, inhuman and cruel and create a significant risk of torture . The Independent Expert noted the psychological pain and suffering inflicted by practices of conversion therapy are deep and long-lasting and often exacerbate the risk of suicide, and called for a global ban on conversion therapy. (18) On June 15, 2022, President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order in part directing the Secretary of State, in collaboration with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, to develop an action plan to