Dec 26, 2008 5:21 PM GMT
An Historic Day at the UN
By: DOUG IRELAND
12/24/2008
Louis-Georges Tin, the intelligent moving force behind the decriminalization declaration, appeared in New York last week to talk about his initiative and also to sing a vibrant a capella rendition of "We Shall Overcome."
In an international affirmation of LGBT rights without precedent, a declaration calling for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality, signed by 66 nations, was read from the podium of the United Nations on December 18.
At a press conference following the reading of the "Statement on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity" to the UN General Assembly by Argentina's envoy to the world body, Ambassador Jorge Argüello, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, Maxime Vergahen, declared that "human rights are for all people" and that "there can be no excuse for the prosecution, discrimination, or violation of the human rights of gay, lesbian and transgendered people."
Verhagen added that the reading of the non-binding declaration and its "broad support" by 66 member states meant that the question of LGBT rights was "no longer taboo [and]... now firmly inscribed on the agenda of the United Nations."
At that same press conference, Rama Yade, the minister for Human Rights in France, which took the initiative in creating the declaration during that nation's six-month term in the rotating presidency of the European Union, called the reading of the statement "a historic day for LGBT peoples and an excellent day for all who struggle for human rights. "
All 27 EU member states signed the declaration.
But Yade, speaking in French, also said that the reading of the declaration was "only the beginning," because the "ultimate goal" remains the "total depenalization of homosexuality."
According to a detailed report released this past May from the International Lesbian and Gay Association, which represents LGBT groups in more than 100 countries, "In 2008, no less than 86 member states of the United Nations still criminalize consensual same-sex acts among adults, thus institutionally promoting a culture of hatred. Among those, seven have legal provisions with the death penalty as punishment" (ILGA's full report).
The United States was notably absent from among the declaration's 66 signatories of the declaration. The Washington Times, the capital's conservative daily, on December 19 reported, "Gay Republicans are furious at the Bush administration for opposing" it.
The Bush administration cited legal reasons for its decision, saying that endorsing the resolution's language would conflict with numerous state laws nationwide that ban gay marriage. But the Washington Times quoted Richard Grenell, a gay Republican who until recently was a spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations, as saying, "That's a real stretch. Concerns about a remote possibility ignores the purpose of the resolution, which is to make sure that people are not killed or oppressed just because they are gay."
"If being gay is a criminal act, then the State Department has granted hundreds of criminals like me top-secret security clearance," Grenell said, adding, "Common sense says that we should be the leader in making sure other governments grant more freedoms to their people."
Nations still have the option to add their names to the declaration, but the incoming Obama administration has not yet said whether it would support it. A call to the Obama transition office was not returned as of press time.
At a meeting ten days ago of the Obama LGBT Task Force, which included representatives from more than a dozen leading LGBT organizations and gay activists who worked on the campaign, no one raised the issue of the incoming administration's position on the UN declaration, a source present at that meeting told Gay City News.
The idea for a statement of principle by the United Nations in support of decriminalizing homosexuality globally was the brainchild of Professor Louis-Georges Tin, the founder of IDAHO, the International Day Against Homophobia, and the president of the Paris-based International Committee for IDAHO. The campaign for the declaration was launched in November 2006, when IDAHO, at a Paris press conference, unveiled a list of hundreds of VIPs who supported it, including five Nobel Prize winners, ten Pulitzer Prize winners, two former French prime ministers, and six Academy Award winners (see this reporter's November 21-27, 2006 "Bold Move for UN Action").
By: DOUG IRELAND
12/24/2008
Louis-Georges Tin, the intelligent moving force behind the decriminalization declaration, appeared in New York last week to talk about his initiative and also to sing a vibrant a capella rendition of "We Shall Overcome."
In an international affirmation of LGBT rights without precedent, a declaration calling for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality, signed by 66 nations, was read from the podium of the United Nations on December 18.
At a press conference following the reading of the "Statement on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity" to the UN General Assembly by Argentina's envoy to the world body, Ambassador Jorge Argüello, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, Maxime Vergahen, declared that "human rights are for all people" and that "there can be no excuse for the prosecution, discrimination, or violation of the human rights of gay, lesbian and transgendered people."
Verhagen added that the reading of the non-binding declaration and its "broad support" by 66 member states meant that the question of LGBT rights was "no longer taboo [and]... now firmly inscribed on the agenda of the United Nations."
At that same press conference, Rama Yade, the minister for Human Rights in France, which took the initiative in creating the declaration during that nation's six-month term in the rotating presidency of the European Union, called the reading of the statement "a historic day for LGBT peoples and an excellent day for all who struggle for human rights. "
All 27 EU member states signed the declaration.
But Yade, speaking in French, also said that the reading of the declaration was "only the beginning," because the "ultimate goal" remains the "total depenalization of homosexuality."
According to a detailed report released this past May from the International Lesbian and Gay Association, which represents LGBT groups in more than 100 countries, "In 2008, no less than 86 member states of the United Nations still criminalize consensual same-sex acts among adults, thus institutionally promoting a culture of hatred. Among those, seven have legal provisions with the death penalty as punishment" (ILGA's full report).
The United States was notably absent from among the declaration's 66 signatories of the declaration. The Washington Times, the capital's conservative daily, on December 19 reported, "Gay Republicans are furious at the Bush administration for opposing" it.
The Bush administration cited legal reasons for its decision, saying that endorsing the resolution's language would conflict with numerous state laws nationwide that ban gay marriage. But the Washington Times quoted Richard Grenell, a gay Republican who until recently was a spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations, as saying, "That's a real stretch. Concerns about a remote possibility ignores the purpose of the resolution, which is to make sure that people are not killed or oppressed just because they are gay."
"If being gay is a criminal act, then the State Department has granted hundreds of criminals like me top-secret security clearance," Grenell said, adding, "Common sense says that we should be the leader in making sure other governments grant more freedoms to their people."
Nations still have the option to add their names to the declaration, but the incoming Obama administration has not yet said whether it would support it. A call to the Obama transition office was not returned as of press time.
At a meeting ten days ago of the Obama LGBT Task Force, which included representatives from more than a dozen leading LGBT organizations and gay activists who worked on the campaign, no one raised the issue of the incoming administration's position on the UN declaration, a source present at that meeting told Gay City News.
The idea for a statement of principle by the United Nations in support of decriminalizing homosexuality globally was the brainchild of Professor Louis-Georges Tin, the founder of IDAHO, the International Day Against Homophobia, and the president of the Paris-based International Committee for IDAHO. The campaign for the declaration was launched in November 2006, when IDAHO, at a Paris press conference, unveiled a list of hundreds of VIPs who supported it, including five Nobel Prize winners, ten Pulitzer Prize winners, two former French prime ministers, and six Academy Award winners (see this reporter's November 21-27, 2006 "Bold Move for UN Action").
