Today, a pretty significant victory was achieved for LGBT people and for anybody who cares about human rights.
As you may have already known, the United Nations General Assembly voted on November 17 to remove sexual orientation from a resolution condemning extrajudicial killings. In other words, as dirkster42 summarized in his November 23 diary on the topic, the U.N. voted 79-70 that it’s “OK to stone gays.”
The removal of sexual orientation was urged largely by African and Arab countries that actually do execute gays simply for being gay. And it should come as no surprise to anybody that at the heart of the effort to exclude gays from the resolution was religious fundamentalism. Fundamentalists have targeted African countries since the 1980s, stirring up a great deal of hatred toward African LGBT people. Most notable – and destructive – is the U.S.-based fundamentalist Christian/political organization “The Family,” which played a central role in Uganda’s infamous “Kill the Gays” bill.
On November17, the hatred toward LGBT people provoked in large part by The Family, the Catholic Church, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints won. Morocco argued that sexual orientation “has no foundation in international human rights instruments.” Despite objections from Western nations, the U.N. General Assembly proceeded to cave to the anti-gay demands of Morocco and other countries and strip sexual orientation from the resolution.
After the vote, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice was quick to introduce an amendment to restore sexual orientation to the resolution. Ever since, she has proven to be a courageous advocate for gays and lesbians in the United Nations, as she led the charge to right the great wrong perpetrated on November 17. On December 10, Human Rights Day, Rice issued the following statement regarding the U.N.’s decision not to recognize the basic human rights of gays and lesbians:
Here at the United Nations, like many of you, I was incensed by the recent vote in the General Assembly’s Third Committee, which eliminated any mention of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals from a resolution condemning extrajudicial killing of vulnerable people around the world. We fought hard for that reference when it came to the Committee vote, and we lost. But we’re not done yet. The resolution now goes to the full General Assembly. For countries that voted in the Committee to keep the reference to sexual orientation, we thank you. For countries that haven’t yet done so, we urge you to join us. And for countries that have supported this reference in the past but charged course this year, we urge you to stand again with us and with all vulnerable people around the world at risk of violence.
Today, the leadership of the United States and other Western nations paid off. While a coalition of “greatly alarmed” African countries argued that the amendment would “jeopardize the entire human rights framework” (really?), and while the United Arab Emirates claimed that the inclusion of sexual orientation has “no legal foundation,” justice prevailed. The General Assembly voted 93-55, with 27 abstentions, to restore sexual orientation to the resolution. Several countries, including Columbia and South Africa, reversed their earlier opposition and supported the amendment. The amendment was supported by the following countries:
Albania, Andorra, Angola, Antigua-Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela
Opposed:
Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Brunei Dar-Sala, Burkina Faso, Burundi, China, Comoros, Congo, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saint Lucia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Abstained:
Belarus, Bhutan, Cambodia, Eritrea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Lao, Lesotho, Liberia, Maldives, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Philippines, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sao Tome Principe, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam
Did not vote/absent:
Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote D'Ivoire, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Myanmar, Seychelles, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan
The resolution then passed 122-0, with 59 abstentions.
No, the resolution is not legally binding, but it is nevertheless an important step forward in ending the cruel state-sanctioned executions of LGBT people around the world.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton responded to the vote:
No one should be killed for who they are. Sadly, many people around the world continue to be targeted and killed because of their sexual orientation. These heinous crimes must be condemned and investigated wherever they occur.
President Obama also praised the vote, saying it
marks an important moment in the struggle for civil and human rights. The time has come for all nations to redouble our efforts to end discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
We obviously have a long way to go before the human rights of LGBT people are respected worldwide, but this is certainly a significant step. Kudos to Ambassador Rice and the others who led the effort to condemn this injustice.