The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday held U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.)’s confirmation hearing to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

The New York Republican did not specifically discuss LGBTQ or intersex rights, but in her opening statement she said President Donald Trump after he nominated her “shared with me that he sees great promise in the United Nations if it focuses on its founding mission of international peace and security.”

“President Trump has long advocated for peace and no wars,” said Stefanik. “He delivered the Abraham Accords (the 2020 agreement in which Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco normalized relations with Israel), the largest step to regional peace in a quarter century.”

“If confirmed, I will work to ensure that our mission to the United Nations serves the interests of the American people and represents President Trump’s America First peace through strength foreign policy,” she added.

Stefanik, 40, has represented New York’s 21st Congressional District since 2015. She later became chair of the House Republican Conference.

Stefanik in 2019 voted for the Equality Act, but she opposed it in 2021. Stefanik in 2022 is among the dozens of Republicans who voted for the Respect for Marriage Act that then-President Joe Biden signed.

Stefanik, among other things, has also been outspoken against antisemitism on college campuses.

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) on Tuesday asked Stefanik about what he described as antisemitism and “anti-Israel bias” at the U.N.

“If you look at the antisemitic rot within the United Nations, there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, any other crisis, combined,” said Stefanik.

“We need to be a voice of moral clarity,” she added.

The hearing took place less than a day after the Senate confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

President-elect Donald Trump on Monday announced he will nominate U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

“Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement that announced the nomination.

Stefanik, 40, has represented New York’s 21st Congressional District since 2015. She has chaired the House Republican Conference since 2021.

Stefanik in 2019 voted for the Equality Act, but she opposed it in 2021. Stefanik in 2022 is among the dozens of Republicans who voted for the Respect for Marriage Act that President Joe Biden signed.

Stefanik, among other things, has also been outspoken against anti-Semitism on college campuses. She would succeed U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield if the U.S. Senate confirms her.

First lady Jill Biden on Monday headlined an LGBTQ and intersex rights event that took place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

“Our humanity — that simple fact — guarantees us certain rights,” said Biden in her speech at the U.N. LGBTI Core Group event. “It doesn’t matter who you are, where you were born, or who your parents are: Being human is enough.”

The European Union and more than three dozen countries are members of the Core Group, a group of U.N. member states that have pledged to support LGBTQ and intersex rights. 

The Netherlands and Argentina, which currently co-chair the Core Group, and Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, organized the event. Jessica Stern, the special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights, introduced the first lady.

Biden in her remarks referenced O’Shae Sibley, a gay man who was stabbed to death in July 2023 while vogueing at a Brooklyn, N.Y., gas station.

She noted the Human Rights Campaign last year “declared a ‘state of emergency’ for LGBTQI people in America, because states across our country passed an unprecedented number of discriminatory laws.” Biden also said consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in more than 60 countries around the world.
 
“We’re not going to stand for hate, discrimination, and violence in our own country,” she said. “We won’t stand for it anywhere in the world.”

Biden noted “more countries” in recent years — Singapore, the Cook Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and Barbados, among others — have decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations. Biden also highlighted other countries — Greece, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Cuba, and Chile, among others — in recent years have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples. 

“These are big victories — ones that bloom across history,” she said.

“But our triumphs live in the small moments too — moments that would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago: Walking down the street without fear. Co-workers who use your chosen name and pronouns. Kids with two moms or two dads at the playground. Coming together for LGBTQI rights during the United Nations General Assembly,” added Biden.

The promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad has been a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris administration’s overall foreign policy.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2016 spoke at a Core Group event that took place on the sidelines of that year’s U.N. General Assembly. He described the LGBTQ and intersex rights movement as the “civil rights issue of our time.”

“Discrimination against anyone for their sexual orientation and gender is anathema to most basic values,” said Joe Biden.  

Other participants in Monday’s event include:

• Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp

• Ricardo Lagorio, Argentina’s permanent representative to the U.N.

• Graeme Reid, the independent U.N. expert on LGBTQ and intersex issues

• U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk

• Former Finnish President Tarja Halonen

• Deputy Luxembourgish Prime Minister Xavier Bettel

• Chilean Social Development and Family Minister Javiera Toro Cáceres

• European Union External Action Service Secretary General Stefano Sannino

• Colombian Multilateral Affairs Vice Minister Kandya Obezo

• French LGBT+ Rights Ambassador-at-Large Jean-Marc Berthon

• Vanessa Dolce de Faria, the high representative for gender issues in the Brazilian Foreign Affairs Ministry

• Philippe Kridelka, Belgium’s permanent representative to the U.N.

• Vanessa Frazier, Malta’s permanent representative to the U.N.

• David Sigurdsson, director of U.N. Affairs in the Icelandic Foreign Affairs Ministry

• Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin

• Ugandan activist Gloriah Dhel

• Filipina activist Venus Aves