UN Secretary-General Calls for End to Discrimination Against LGBT People at Milestone Events, Governments renew fight to restore protections in UN resolution
( December 13, 2010 ) In an unprecedented public appearance in support of global LGBT rights UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United States Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice appeared on a panel condemning violence against LGBT and the continued criminalization of gay people in more than 70 countries worldwide. In his impassioned statement the Secretary-General made clear that commitment to universal human rights must trump cultural attitudes when there is a tension between the two. The Human Rights Day ( December 10 ) panel, hosted by several UN Member States, was organized by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and other human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch.
"It has been a challenging year for LGBT rights at the United Nations," said Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director of IGLHRC speaking after the event "We have seen conservative forces try to keep organizations like IGLHRC out of the UN and we've suffered some painful setbacks as these same governments work to eliminate or prevent human rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. "The importance of this event and the support of figures like the UN Secretary-General and US Ambassador cannot be underestimated."
The Secretary-General cited the importance of speaking out against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. "Violence will end only when we confront prejudice. Stigma and discrimination will end only when we agree to speak out. That requires all of us to do our part; to speak out at home, at work, in our schools and communities." Mr. Ban said.
In a further significant show of support for LGBT rights at the United nations, Ambassador Rice, supported in statements by several other States, vowed that the United States would work in the full UN General Assembly to reinsert a longstanding reference to sexual orientation that was recently deleted during committee-level voting from the resolution on extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions.
"We are going to fight to restore the reference to sexual orientation," the Ambassador announced. "We're going to stand firm on this basic principle. And we intend to win." The vote on this resolution is expected to come up in the General Assembly on 20 December 2010.
"We look forward to governments in the General Assembly speaking and acting against discrimination when it really counts" said IGLHRC's Johnson, "When the support of governments is needed to ensure LGBT people are explicitly included in this resolution is one of those times."
The event was sponsored this year by the Permanent Missions of Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, France, Gabon, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway, the United States Mission and the Delegation of the European Union. IGLHRC and Human Rights Watch collaborated with state representatives to coordinate and organize civil-society participation.
