H.R. 8072: LOVE Act of 2022
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H.R. 8072: LOVE Act of 2022
117th Congress · introduced 2022-06-15 · International Affairs · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2022-06-15 · official record
- Who proposed it: Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
LOVE Act of 2022
Plain summary
Lavender Offense Victim Exoneration Act of 2022 or the LOVE Act of 2022 This bill offers a formal apology from Congress for encouraging policies at the Department of State, such as the Lavender Scare, which resulted in the wrongful termination of at least 1,000 people for alleged homosexuality, and addresses related issues. The State Department must (1) review all employee terminations that occurred as a consequence of the Lavender Scare to identify those who were wrongfully terminated, and (2) issue a public report on the findings. The State Department must establish an independent Reconciliation Board to contact any employee (or a family member of a deceased employee) wrongfully terminated during the Lavender Scare and offer to change the employee's record to reflect this finding. The board must accept and review petitions from former employees who believe they were terminated due to sexual orientation. The State Department must establish a board of senior-level officials to address issues that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) Foreign Service employees and their families face. The board must report on improving State Department policies to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics. The State Department must report on (1) countries that do not issue spousal visas for Foreign Service employee spouses due to sexual orientation, gender identity, or sex characteristics; and (2) recommendations for State Department responses, such as eliminating visa reciprocity for such countries.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] · 9 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
Dina Titus (D-NV), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Jared Huffman (D-CA), James P. McGovern (D-MA)
Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] reported raising $592,416 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (1)
- Bill
- A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-117hr8072.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/117/hr>
Record fed-us-cong117-hr8072 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong117 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong117