| U.S. Stalls Signing U.N. Rights Statement |
| Submitted by Michael Brown | |||||
| Friday, 12 December 2008 10:41 | |||||
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U.S. stalls signing U.N. rights statement Gay-supportive document proposed by European nations By LOU CHIBBARO JR. Dec. 12, 2008 International gay rights groups expressed concern that the U.S. had not yet signed a proposed statement this week calling on the United Nations and countries throughout the world to condemn discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The statement, proposed by France on behalf of the European Union, was scheduled to be presented to the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week. More than 50 countries have signed the statement. "The statement will call on all governments around the world to ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity are not subjected to criminal penalty, and that individuals are not executed, arrested or otherwise detained because of their sexual orientation or gender identity," according to the Council for Global Equality, a human rights group that advocates for gay and transgender rights. Mark Bromley, the group's chair, said human rights advocates are hopeful the U.S. will sign the statement. He said activists lobbying the State Department on behalf of the statement believed the delay in U.S. acceptance of the document was due to distractions related to the transition from the Bush administration to the new administration headed by President-elect Barack Obama. The U.S. signed on to a similar statement focusing on the rights of gays and transgender people issued earlier this year by the Organization of American States. The OAS represents all 35 independent countries in North, Central and South America. In 2006, the U.S. signed another gay- and trans-rights related statement before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. "There's plenty of precedent for the U.S. to do this," Bromley said. A spokesperson for the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Vatican created a stir in Italy last week when it denounced the statement as a disguised attempt to pressure countries into same-sex marriage. Vatican officials urged countries not to sign the statement. Commentators for a number of Italian newspapers joined the Italian gay rights group Arci Gay in criticizing the Vatican for opposing a statement that the commentators said calls for an end to anti-gay persecution and has nothing to do with marriage. A spokesperson for the Vatican Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), the only openly lesbian member of Congress, this week joined efforts to persuade the State Department to move quickly to back the proposed U.N. statement. Baldwin, along with Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who chairs the House International Affairs Committee, and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East & South Asia, sent a joint letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to arrange for the U.S. to sign the statement by next week. The three House members noted in their letter that supporters of the proposed statement had hoped to have it issued by Dec. 10, the 60th anniversary of the signing of the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That document is credited with helping start the modern human rights movement. Bromley said organizers of the U.N. statement have put off its introduction until next week to allow time for more nations to sign it. In a fact sheet listing the goals and objectives of the proposed U.N. statement, officials with U.N. non-governmental organizations that support the statement said various agencies of the U.N. have issued similar statements condemning anti-gay discrimination and persecution in the past. They said the current statement marks the first time such a document has been presented to the U.N. General Assembly, the organization's governing body. "In this 60th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is particularly important to affirm the principle of universality: that all human beings are entitled to equal dignity and respect," the fact sheet says. (c) 2008 The Southern Voice | A Window Media Publication http://www.southernvoice.com/2008/12-12/news/national/9556.cfm
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