This past Friday, the United Nations (U.N.) passed a ground breaking resolution – for equal rights for everyone, including those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) community.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State International Organizations Suzanne Nossel called it “a key part in setting a new norm that gay rights are human rights and that that has to be accepted globally.” President Barack Obama called it a “significant milestone in the long struggle for [LGBT] equality.”
The resolution was introduced by South Africa. What makes it so ground breaking? It is the first ever U.N. resolution that includes equal rights for those of all sexual orientations. It was passed with 23 countries voting in favor of it.
Still, 19 countries were opposed and three abstained. The resolution was lobbied for heavily by the U.S. State Department. It was also supported by South America, Columbia, Brazil, and the European Union.
However, some countries opposed the resolution because they felt it didn’t directly address fundamental human rights. Those countries that either voted against or abstained included Russia, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, Burkina Faso, Kyrgyzstan, Zambia, and Libya.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been putting an emphasis on gay rights, saying that “gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights.” At a gay pride celebration this month, she said, “Men and women are harassed, beaten, subjected to sexual violence, even killed, because of who they are and whom they love. Some are driven from their homes or countries, and many who become refugees confront new threats in their countries of asylum. In some places, violence against the LGBT community is permitted by law and inflamed by public calls to violence; in others, it persists insidiously behind closed doors.”
Those countries that wanted the resolution passed hopes it will help prevent violence and decimation against LGBTs all over the world.