International Family Law News & Analysis

Sec. Clinton: ‘Gay Rights Are Human Rights, and Human Rights Are Gay Rights’

Sec. Clinton To UN: ‘Gay Rights Are Human Rights, And Human Rights Are Gay Rights’

Excerpts:

"In reality, gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world ... all races, all faiths; they are doctors and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes, and whether we know it or whether we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends and our neighbors. ... gay people belong to every society in the world…. Being gay is not a Western invention, it is a human reality.”

 

"Clinton’s address builds on a memorandum President Obama issued earlier today directing all agencies to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons. ... the administration is launching a $3 million global equality fund to support the work of civil society organizations working on these issues around the world."

 

UN Gay Rights Resolution Modest For Now, But Points Toward Bigger Things

The resolution that has been widely reported in today's news  was not by the Security Council or General Assembly, but by the UN's Human Rights Council of 47 countries. Its web site reports:

Regarding human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity, the Council requested the High Commissioner to commission a study to be finalised by December 2011 to document discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, in all regions of the world, and how international human rights law could be used to end violence and related human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also decided to convene a panel discussion during the nineteenth session of the Human Rights Council, informed by the facts contained in the study commissioned by the High Commissioner.