United Nations Condemns Persecution Based on Sexual Orientation

20 March 2009

By Jane Morse
Staff Writer

Washington — The United States is joining 66 other United Nations member states in condemning the persecution of individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

"The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world," Robert Wood, State Department acting spokesman, said in a statement released March 18. "[W]e will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora."

The U.N. Statement on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity calls on all member states and relevant international human rights mechanisms "to commit to promote and protect human rights of all persons, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity."

The statement further urges all states to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity "may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention."

Some 70 U.N. member nations outlaw homosexuality, and in some countries homosexual acts are punishable by death. But the U.N. statement reaffirms the 60-year-old Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which proclaims that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."

During her recent visit to Brussels, Belgium, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told young European leaders during a March 6 town hall meeting that "the persecution and discrimination against gays and lesbians is something that we take very seriously."

Clinton condemned human rights abuses against homosexuals, and called for "a recognition that human rights are the inalienable right of every person …."

The U.N. statement on sexual orientation and gender identity was initiated by France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, and backed by the European Union. The document, presented to the U.N. General Assembly on December 18, 2008, is an authoritative statement of principles but is not legally binding.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, in December 18, 2008, remarks to a high-level U.N. panel discussion on human rights, said that laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation "are increasingly recognized as anachronistic and as inconsistent both with international law and the traditional values of dignity, inclusion and respect for all."

"Those who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, those who are transgender, transsexual or intersex, are full and equal members of the human family and are entitled to be treated as such," Pillay said.

For additional information, see Wood's opening statement at the March 18 State Department press briefing.