UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity
Encyclopedia
Since its founding in 1945, the United Nations
has not touched on the issue of sexual orientation
or gender identity
until December of 2008, when a Dutch
/French
-initiated, European Union
-backed statement was presented to the United Nations General Assembly
. The statement, originally intended to be adopted as resolution, prompted an Arab League
-backed statement opposing it. Both statements remain open for signature and neither of them has been officially adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.
The proposed declaration includes a condemnation of violence
, harassment
, discrimination
, exclusion
, stigmatization, and prejudice
based on sexual orientation
and gender identity
that undermine the integrity
and dignity
. It also includes condemnation of killings and executions, torture, arbitrary arrest, and deprivation of economic, social, and cultural rights on those grounds. In the declaration text, para 7 that "we recall the statement in 2006 before the Human Rights Council by fifty four countries requesting the President of the Council to provide an opportunity, at an appropriate future session of the Council, for discussing these violations." and para 8 that "we commend the attention paid to those issues by special procedures of the Human Rights Council and treaty bodies and encourage them to continue to integrate consideration of human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity within their relevant mandate.", indicate The Yogyakarta Principles which provide definitions in detail on sexual orientation and on gender identity as a document on international human rights law
, despite the Principles are not referred directly.
It was praised as a breakthrough for human rights
, breaking the taboo against speaking about LGBT rights in the United Nations
. Opponents criticized it as an attempt to legitimize same-sex civil partnerships or marriage
, adoption by same sex couples, pedophilia
(although all major psychological and scientific institutions have rejected such a link), and "other deplorable acts" and curtail "freedom of religious expression" against "homosexual behavior".
On June 17, 2011, South Africa
submitted a request to the United Nations Human Rights Council
requesting the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to draft a report detailing the situation of LGBT citizens worldwide to follow up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
. The resolution passed 23 to 19 with the three abstentions being Burkina Faso
, China
, and Zambia
.
is currently illegal in 76 countries
and punishable by death in five. In the 1980s
, early United Nations reports on the AIDS
-HIV
pandemic made some reference to homosexuality, and the 1986 Human Freedom Index did include a specific question, in judging the human rights record of each nation, with regards to the existence of criminal laws against homosexuality.
In its 1994 decision in Toonen v. Australia
, The UN Human Rights Committee, which is responsible for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), declared that such laws are in violation of human rights law.
In 2003 a number of predominantly European countries put forward the Brazilian Resolution
at the UN Human Rights Commission stating the intention that lesbian and gay rights be considered as fundamental as the rights of all human beings.
In 2006, with the effort of its founder, Louis George Tin, International Day Against Homophobia
(IDAHO) launched a worldwide campaign to end the criminalisation of same-sex relationship
s. The campaign was supported by dozens of international public figures including Nobel laureates
, academics, clergy and celebrities.
In 2008, the 34 member countries of the Organization of American States
unanimously approved a declaration affirming that human rights protections extend to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Following meetings between Tin and French Minister of Human Rights and Foreign Affairs Rama Yade
in early 2008, Yade announced that she would appeal at the UN for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality; the appeal was quickly taken up as an international concern.
Co-sponsored by France, which then held the rotating presidency of the European Union, and The Netherlands on behalf of the European Union, the declaration had been intended as a resolution; it was decided to use the format of a declaration of a limited group of States because there was not enough support for the adoption of an official resolution by the General Assembly as a whole. The declaration was read out by Ambassador Jorge Argüello of Argentina
on 18 December 2008, and was the first declaration concerning gay rights read in the General Assembly.
past as from religion or tradition.
Voicing France's support for the draft declaration, Rama Yade asked: "How can we tolerate the fact that people are stoned, hanged, decapitated and tortured only because of their sexual orientation?"
UK-based activist Peter Tatchell
said of the declaration:
Africa
(2008 only) (2008 only) (2008 only) (2008 only) (2008 only)
Americas
initiative
(2006 only) initiative
Asia (2006 only)
Europe
* *
* * * * * * * initiative * * * * * * * * * (2006 only)* initiative
* * * * * initiative * * *
Oceania
's Permanent Observer at the United Nations, Archbishop Celestino Migliore
, who claimed that the declaration could be used to force countries to recognise same-sex marriage:
A key part of the Vatican opposition to the draft Declaration relates to the concept of gender identity
. In a statement on 19 December, Archbishop Migliore noted:
However, Archbishop Migliore also made clear the Vatican's opposition to legal discrimination against homosexuals: "The Holy See continues to advocate that every sign of unjust discrimination towards homosexual persons should be avoided and urges States to do away with criminal penalties against them."
In an editorial response, Italy
's La Stampa
newspaper called the Vatican’s reasoning "grotesque", claiming that the Vatican feared a "chain reaction in favour of legally recognised homosexual unions in countries, like Italy, where there is currently no legislation."
The United States
, citing conflicts with US law, originally opposed the adoption of the nonbinding measure, as did Russia
, China
, the Holy See
, and members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Holy See's Permanent Observer Mission issued a statement saying that the draft declaration "challenges existing human rights norms." The Obama administration
changed the US position to support the measure in February 2009.
An alternative statement, supported by 57 member nations, was read by the Syria
n representative in the General Assembly. The statement, led by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, rejected the idea that sexual orientation is a matter of genetic coding
and claimed that the declaration threatened to undermine the international framework of human rights, adding that the statement "delves into matters which fall essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of states" and could lead to "the social normalization, and possibly the legitimization, of many deplorable acts including paedophilia." The Organization failed in a related attempt to delete the phrase "sexual orientation" from a Swedish
-backed formal resolution condemning summary executions, although recently the phrase was removed with 79 votes to 70, and then subsequently restored by a vote of 93 to 55.
Africa
Americas
Asia
initiative
Oceania
requesting a study on discrimination and sexual orientation (A/HRC/17/L.9/Rev.1) passed, 23 to 19 with 3 abstentions, in the Human Rights Council on June 17, 2011. This is the first time that any United Nations body approved a resolution affirming the rights of LGBT people. The resolution calls on the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to draw up the first U.N. report on challenges faced by gay people worldwide. Her report, due by December 2011, should document discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The votes on this resolution were as follows:
African States (13)
South Africa initiative — No — Abstain — No — No — No — No — Suspended — No — Yes — No — No — No — Abstain
Asian States
(13) — No — No — Abstain — Yes — No — Absent — No — No — Yes — No — No — No — Yes
Eastern European States (6) — Yes — Yes — No — No — Yes — Yes
Latin American & Caribbean States (8) — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes
Western European & Other States
(7) — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
has not touched on the issue of sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
or gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
until December of 2008, when a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
/French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-initiated, European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
-backed statement was presented to the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
. The statement, originally intended to be adopted as resolution, prompted an Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
-backed statement opposing it. Both statements remain open for signature and neither of them has been officially adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.
The proposed declaration includes a condemnation of violence
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
, harassment
Harassment
Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behaviour intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing...
, discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
, exclusion
Social exclusion
Social exclusion is a concept used in many parts of the world to characterise contemporary forms of social disadvantage. Dr. Lynn Todman, director of the Institute on Social Exclusion at the Adler School of Professional Psychology, suggests that social exclusion refers to processes in which...
, stigmatization, and prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
based on sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
and gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
that undermine the integrity
Integrity
Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
and dignity
Dignity
Dignity is a term used in moral, ethical, and political discussions to signify that a being has an innate right to respect and ethical treatment. It is an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable rights...
. It also includes condemnation of killings and executions, torture, arbitrary arrest, and deprivation of economic, social, and cultural rights on those grounds. In the declaration text, para 7 that "we recall the statement in 2006 before the Human Rights Council by fifty four countries requesting the President of the Council to provide an opportunity, at an appropriate future session of the Council, for discussing these violations." and para 8 that "we commend the attention paid to those issues by special procedures of the Human Rights Council and treaty bodies and encourage them to continue to integrate consideration of human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity within their relevant mandate.", indicate The Yogyakarta Principles which provide definitions in detail on sexual orientation and on gender identity as a document on international human rights law
International human rights law
International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...
, despite the Principles are not referred directly.
It was praised as a breakthrough for human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, breaking the taboo against speaking about LGBT rights in the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. Opponents criticized it as an attempt to legitimize same-sex civil partnerships or marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
, adoption by same sex couples, pedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
(although all major psychological and scientific institutions have rejected such a link), and "other deplorable acts" and curtail "freedom of religious expression" against "homosexual behavior".
On June 17, 2011, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
submitted a request to the United Nations Human Rights Council
United Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
requesting the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to draft a report detailing the situation of LGBT citizens worldwide to follow up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, also known as VDPA, is a human rights declaration adopted by consensus at the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993 in Vienna, Austria...
. The resolution passed 23 to 19 with the three abstentions being Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, and Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
.
Background
HomosexualityHomosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
is currently illegal in 76 countries
Homosexuality laws of the world
Laws affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people vary greatly by country or territory—everything from legal recognition of same-sex marriage or other types of partnerships, to the death penalty as punishment for same-sex sexual activity or identity.LGBT-related laws include but...
and punishable by death in five. In the 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
, early United Nations reports on the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
pandemic made some reference to homosexuality, and the 1986 Human Freedom Index did include a specific question, in judging the human rights record of each nation, with regards to the existence of criminal laws against homosexuality.
In its 1994 decision in Toonen v. Australia
Toonen v. Australia
Toonen v. Australia was a landmark human rights complaint brought before the United Nations Human Rights Committee by Tasmanian resident Nicholas Toonen in 1994...
, The UN Human Rights Committee, which is responsible for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from March 23, 1976...
(ICCPR), declared that such laws are in violation of human rights law.
In 2003 a number of predominantly European countries put forward the Brazilian Resolution
Brazilian Resolution
The Brazilian resolution was presented to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2003.The resolution covered human rights and sexual orientation...
at the UN Human Rights Commission stating the intention that lesbian and gay rights be considered as fundamental as the rights of all human beings.
In 2006, with the effort of its founder, Louis George Tin, International Day Against Homophobia
International Day Against Homophobia
The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is celebrated every May 17.It is coordinated by the Paris based "IDAHO Committee" founded and presided by French academics, Louis-Georges Tin...
(IDAHO) launched a worldwide campaign to end the criminalisation of same-sex relationship
Same-sex relationship
A same-sex relationship is a relationship between two persons of the same sex and can take many forms, from romantic and sexual, to non-romantic close relationships. The term is mainly associated with gay and lesbian people...
s. The campaign was supported by dozens of international public figures including Nobel laureates
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
, academics, clergy and celebrities.
In 2008, the 34 member countries of the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
unanimously approved a declaration affirming that human rights protections extend to sexual orientation and gender identity.
Following meetings between Tin and French Minister of Human Rights and Foreign Affairs Rama Yade
Rama Yade
Rama Yade is a French politician who served in the government of France from 2007 to 2010. She was Secretary of State for Sports and married to Joseph Zimet - son of Yiddish singer Ben Zimet, an adviser to Secretary of State Jean-Marie Bockel.- Early life :Yade was born in Ouakam, Senegal. She...
in early 2008, Yade announced that she would appeal at the UN for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality; the appeal was quickly taken up as an international concern.
Co-sponsored by France, which then held the rotating presidency of the European Union, and The Netherlands on behalf of the European Union, the declaration had been intended as a resolution; it was decided to use the format of a declaration of a limited group of States because there was not enough support for the adoption of an official resolution by the General Assembly as a whole. The declaration was read out by Ambassador Jorge Argüello of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
on 18 December 2008, and was the first declaration concerning gay rights read in the General Assembly.
Support
Several speakers addressing a conference on the declaration noted that in many countries laws against homosexuality stemmed as much from the British colonialColonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
past as from religion or tradition.
Voicing France's support for the draft declaration, Rama Yade asked: "How can we tolerate the fact that people are stoned, hanged, decapitated and tortured only because of their sexual orientation?"
UK-based activist Peter Tatchell
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements...
said of the declaration:
Signatories
85 of the United Nations' then 192 member countries sponsored a new version of the declaration issued at the March 2011 session of the UN Human Rights Council, including every member of the European Union* and most Western nations. States that only signed in 2006 or 2008, and have not signed the new statement are noted below as well.Africa
LGBT rights in Africa
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights in Africa are limited in comparison to other areas of the world, with the BBC estimating that homosexuality is outlawed in 38 African countries...
(2008 only) (2008 only) (2008 only) (2008 only) (2008 only)
Americas
LGBT rights in the Americas
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights are complex in the Americas. The British, French, Spanish and Portuguese colonists, who settled most of the Americas, brought Christianity from Europe...
initiative
(2006 only) initiative
Asia (2006 only)
Europe
LGBT rights in Europe
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights are widely diverse in Europe per country. Seven out of the ten countries that have legalised same-sex marriage are situated in Europe; a further fourteen European countries have legalised civil unions or other forms of recognition for same-sex couples...
* *
* * * * * * * initiative * * * * * * * * * (2006 only)* initiative
* * * * * initiative * * *
Oceania
LGBT rights in Oceania
Oceania is, like other continents, quite diverse in its laws regarding homosexuality. This ranges from significant rights granted to the LGBT community in e.g. Australia and New Zealand to remaining criminal penalties for homosexual activity in e.g. Kiribati and Nauru.-References:...
Opposition
Among the first to voice opposition for the declaration, in early December 2008, was the Holy SeeHoly See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
's Permanent Observer at the United Nations, Archbishop Celestino Migliore
Celestino Migliore
Celestino Migliore is an Italian Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church who currently serves as the Apostolic Nuncio to Poland. He had previously served as...
, who claimed that the declaration could be used to force countries to recognise same-sex marriage:
A key part of the Vatican opposition to the draft Declaration relates to the concept of gender identity
Gender identity
A gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
. In a statement on 19 December, Archbishop Migliore noted:
However, Archbishop Migliore also made clear the Vatican's opposition to legal discrimination against homosexuals: "The Holy See continues to advocate that every sign of unjust discrimination towards homosexual persons should be avoided and urges States to do away with criminal penalties against them."
In an editorial response, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's La Stampa
La Stampa
La Stampa is one of the best-known, most influential and most widely sold Italian daily newspapers. Published in Turin, it is distributed in Italy and other European nations. The current owner is the Fiat Group.-History:...
newspaper called the Vatican’s reasoning "grotesque", claiming that the Vatican feared a "chain reaction in favour of legally recognised homosexual unions in countries, like Italy, where there is currently no legislation."
The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, citing conflicts with US law, originally opposed the adoption of the nonbinding measure, as did Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, and members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Holy See's Permanent Observer Mission issued a statement saying that the draft declaration "challenges existing human rights norms." The Obama administration
Presidency of Barack Obama
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009 when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election...
changed the US position to support the measure in February 2009.
An alternative statement, supported by 57 member nations, was read by the Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n representative in the General Assembly. The statement, led by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, rejected the idea that sexual orientation is a matter of genetic coding
Biology and sexual orientation
Biology and sexual orientation is the subject of research into the role of biology in the development of human sexual orientation. No simple, single cause for sexual orientation has been conclusively demonstrated, but research suggests that it is by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and...
and claimed that the declaration threatened to undermine the international framework of human rights, adding that the statement "delves into matters which fall essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of states" and could lead to "the social normalization, and possibly the legitimization, of many deplorable acts including paedophilia." The Organization failed in a related attempt to delete the phrase "sexual orientation" from a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
-backed formal resolution condemning summary executions, although recently the phrase was removed with 79 votes to 70, and then subsequently restored by a vote of 93 to 55.
Signatories
57 UN member nations have co-sponsored the opposing statement in 2008:Africa
Americas
Asia
initiative
Oceania
UN Human Rights Council Resolution
A resolution submitted by South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
requesting a study on discrimination and sexual orientation (A/HRC/17/L.9/Rev.1) passed, 23 to 19 with 3 abstentions, in the Human Rights Council on June 17, 2011. This is the first time that any United Nations body approved a resolution affirming the rights of LGBT people. The resolution calls on the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to draw up the first U.N. report on challenges faced by gay people worldwide. Her report, due by December 2011, should document discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. The votes on this resolution were as follows:
African States (13)
South Africa initiative — No — Abstain — No — No — No — No — Suspended — No — Yes — No — No — No — AbstainAsian States
United Nations geoscheme for Asia
-Central Asia:*Kazakhstan*Kyrgyzstan*Tajikistan*Turkmenistan*Uzbekistan-Eastern Asia:*China - the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China **Hong Kong**Macau*Japan*Mongolia*Korea - North Korea and South Korea-Southern Asia:...
(13) — No — No — Abstain — Yes — No — Absent — No — No — Yes — No — No — No — Yes
Eastern European States (6) — Yes — Yes — No — No — Yes — Yes
Latin American & Caribbean States (8) — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes
Western European & Other States
Western European and Others Group
The Western European and Others Group is one of several unofficial Regional Groups in the United Nations that act as voting blocs and negotiation forums. Regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from regional groups...
(7) — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes — Yes
See also
- The Yogyakarta Principles
- Yogyakarta Principles in ActionYogyakarta Principles in ActionYogyakarta Principles in Action is a movement for activists and human rights defenders to promote human rights, especially those of LGBTI around the Yogyakarta Principles, supported by ARC International, Hivos and Dreilinden Gesellschaft für gemeinnütziges Privatkapitel, Germany.They published the...
- Brazilian ResolutionBrazilian ResolutionThe Brazilian resolution was presented to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2003.The resolution covered human rights and sexual orientation...
- LGBT rights by country or territory