The US is now part of the problem with global LGBT rights.

Daniil Grachev, an LGBTQ rights activist, is arrested by riot police during a pride event in St. Petersburg, 2013. (Image: Roma Yandolin / Flickr Vision)

My first job at BuzzFeed News in 2013 was something of an experiment: We wanted to cover LGBTQ rights worldwide as seriously as we cover wars or elections.

Over the years that followed, I met LGBTQ refugees who’d fled ISIS in…