Sec. Hillary Clinton on UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
June 17, 2011

Today, the UN Human Rights Council adopted the first ever UN resolution on the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. This represents a historic moment to highlight the human rights abuses and violations that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people face around the world based solely on who they are and whom they love.

The United States worked with the main sponsor, South Africa, and a number of other countries from many regions of the world to help pass this resolution, including Brazil, Colombia, members of the European Union, and others. This resolution will commission the first ever UN report on the challenges that LGBT persons face around the globe and will open a broader international discussion on how to best promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.

All over the world, people face human rights abuses and violations because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, including torture, rape, criminal sanctions, and killing. Today’s landmark resolution affirms that human rights are universal. People cannot be excluded from protection simply because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The United States will continue to stand up for human rights wherever there is inequality and we will seek more commitments from countries to join this important resolution.

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Related Posts:

Statement by Amb. Susan E. Rice;

UN Adopts Groundbreaking Resolution Affirming that LGBT Rights are Human Rights

LGBTI “Pride” in Uganda Means Fighting for Basic Rights and Freedom

Julius Kaggwa photo:Bronwynne Pereira

Repost from Council member Human Rights First. By Beth Tuckey

Click below to listen to an audio podcast of Ugandan activist Julius Kaggwa on the state of LGBTI equality in Unganda.

As we celebrate Pride Month in the United States, we should also celebrate those who continue to fight for basic rights and freedoms of LGBTI persons in other countries. Ugandan LGBTI activist Julius Kaggwa’s advocacy for equality is an important testament for those in Uganda who have been identified as fringe and whose rights as human beings and citizens are being challenged. Listen to this week’s podcast and learn about Julius’ work on the ground in Uganda and the current state of the controversial Anti-homosexuality bill.

Although the bill never came to a vote before Parliament closed in mid-May, it had the effect of further stigmatizing an already vulnerable population. Many link the murder of activist David Kato in January to the increasingly violent rhetoric surrounding homosexuality. Just months before his death, Kato’s name and photo appeared in a newspaper article about homosexuals in Uganda with the headline “Hang Them.” The fact that the legislation was tabled is only of little comfort to those working on LGBTI rights in Uganda.

Concern about Freedom of Assembly in Russia

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman

For Immediate Release: May 29, 2011

2011/855

STATEMENT BY MARK TONER, DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON

Concern about Freedom of Assembly in Russia

We note with concern that in Moscow on Saturday, May 28, a peaceable demonstration of Russians advocating for the rights of gays and lesbians, joined by international supporters, was forcefully disrupted by counter-protesters, and that Russian security forces then detained people from both groups, including American citizens. Some protestors were seriously injured according to media reports.

Freedom of assembly is a fundamental right all members of the OSCE committed to, including in the Moscow declaration and as recently as the Astana summit. As nationwide legislative elections approach, constraints on the ability of Russian citizens peacefully to gather and express their views will be closely watched in evaluating the integrity of the electoral process.  We call on Russian authorities to work with municipal officials to find better ways to safeguard these fundamental freedoms.

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Pamela Bridgewater, US Ambassador to Jamaica Op Ed on Homophobia

Reposted from The Gleaner

Promote equality

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Having served at home and around the world in the foreign service of the United States for more than 30 years, I have found that, often, those of us who can and should use our influence to promote tolerance fail to do so. In our silence, we inadvertently reinforce prejudices.

Homophobia exists to varying degrees in all societies. Every day, in countries all over the world, people are persecuted, vilified, beaten and even killed because of their sexual orientation and gender identity. Homophobia, either open or hidden, causes enormous suffering for those who perpetrate it, those who are the victims of it, and those who simply tolerate it.

While it is true that the responsibility for hate crimes rests with the perpetrators themselves, we all share a duty to counter intolerance and prejudice wherever we can. Continue Reading

U.S. State Department: International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Press Release: U.S. Department of State

WASHINGTON, DC – In every part of the world, men and women are persecuted and attacked because of who they are or whom they love. Homophobia, transphobia and the brutal hostility associated with them are often rooted in a lack of understanding of what it actually means to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). So to combat this terrible scourge and break the cycle of fear and violence, we must work together to improve education and support those who stand up against laws that criminalize love and promote hate. As we mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia this May 17, let us resolve to redouble our efforts.

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am proud to reaffirm our support for LGBT communities at home and abroad, and to call for an end to discrimination and mistreatment of LGBT persons wherever it occurs. Whether by supporting LGBT advocates marching in Belgrade, leading the effort at the United Nations to affirm the human rights of LGBT persons, or condemning a vile law under consideration in Uganda, we are committed to our friends and allies in every region of the world who are fighting for equality and justice. These are not Western concepts; these are universal human rights.

Despite these gains and hard work, there is more to do to turn the tide of inequality and discrimination against the LGBT community. If you are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, know that the United States stands with you and we are unwavering in our commitment to ending this cycle of hate.

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Uganda’s Current Parliamentary Session Closed Without Vote on Anti-Homosexuality Bill

photo: Andrew Regan

May 13, 2011 – After two years of dangerous discussion, the current parliamentary session in Uganda closed today without a vote on the “anti-homosexuality” bill.  The coordinator of the civil society coalition opposing the bill, Adrian Jjuuko, put it this way: “The Ugandan parliament has closed today. . . . Thus the Anti-Homosexuality Bill has to be reintroduced in the new parliament and the whole process to begin all over again.  Thank you all for the efforts and solidarity in fighting this ominous bill. The struggle may have to begin all over again, but for now, the process is over.”

Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill was introduced in 2009.  It was an affront to the lives and dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Ugandans and a threat to democracy and human rights throughout the country.  Indeed, it was the most extreme attempt by any country anywhere to criminalize same-sex relations and relationships, even imposing the death penalty in certain cases.  It also would have criminalized those who provide assistance to LGBT citizens, including medical professionals, family members, pastors or civil society organizations that support the fundamental rights of the country’s LGBT community.

A broad coalition of human rights leaders in Uganda came together to denounce the bill, insisting that it was a backward-looking attempt to divert attention away from growing civil unrest in the country, and from the alarming violence unleashed by the authorities in recent weeks to suppress peaceful protests.  Uganda’s own Human Rights Commission called the bill unconstitutional and inconsistent with the country’s human rights obligations.

The bill could be introduced in the next parliament, which convenes later this month.  And although never adopted, the debate around it has already created an atmosphere of extreme hostility and led to acts of targeted violence against LGBT citizens.  But for now, the brave civil society leaders who stood up to oppose the bill should take pride in their work to protect human rights for all Ugandans.  We are also grateful for the committed response of U.S. foreign policy leaders in the White House, the State Department and Congress who have engaged in a dialogue with Ugandan authorities for nearly two years to highlight the harms caused by this proposal.

Anti-Homosexuality Bill on hold

May 11, 2011 – Parliament in Uganda adjourned today without voting on the “anti-homosexuality” bill.  The Council understands that the current lame duck parliament may convene again on Friday, May 13, and that the bill could still receive a vote in the final hours of this current parliamentary session.

The Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional law Uganda (CSCHRCL) in Uganda notes that the bill, once believed to have been permanently stalled, “is being used to blind the world to everything else that is going on in Uganda right now.  Alternatively that re-opening the discussion about a backwards looking and harmful proposal is symptomatic of a more general problem of weak governance.”

The Council is grateful for the leadership of the White House, State Department and U.S. Congress in speaking out against this shocking effort, and we trust that the United States will continue to hold President Museveni to his assurance that the bill will not become law.  The State Department outlined recent U.S. government engagement in a statement on Box Turtle Bulletin here.  We appreciate the ongoing commitment of U.S. foreign policy leaders to human rights for all Ugandans, including the country’s LGBT community.

The State Department’s Annual Human Rights Report: A Firmly Measured Response to Egregious Abuse

April 13, 2011 – The State Department last week released its annual human rights report.  Once again, the Council for Global Equality applauds the State Department’s effort to “provide an overview of the human rights situation around the world as a means to raise awareness of human rights conditions, in particular as these conditions affect the well-being of women, children, racial and religious minorities, trafficking victims, members of indigenous groups and ethnic communities, persons with disabilities, sexual minorities, refugees, and members of other vulnerable groups.”  And once again this year, the report bears witness to a clear and growing crisis in human rights abuse directed against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people worldwide.

For the second year in a row, every country chapter now includes a section on “societal abuses, discrimination, and acts of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” highlighting LGBT-related incidents in almost every country in the world.  Those abuses include arbitrary arrest and detention, police abuse, rape, murder, social exclusion, impediments to political participation, discriminatory health practices and extreme trends in employment discrimination that exclude far too many citizens from the economic life of their own country.  In many cases, the report notes that transgender individuals, lesbians and refugee fare even worse. (View a compendium of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) references in the report.)

While the State Department’s annual report to Congress examines a broad range of human rights concerns impacting various minority communities, the report sets out in stark terms how dangerous it is for LGBT individuals to go about their daily lives as ordinary citizens in many parts of the world.  The report also makes clear that LGBT rights are not special rights, but that they are firmly rooted in basic human rights protections that are shared by all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and that those protections are under severe attack in the world today. Continue Reading

Council position on suspension of $350 million in development assistance to Malawi

In February the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a U.S. government-funded development institution, suspended an agreement with Malawi, focused on energy sector development, based in part on concerns over a new law criminalizing consensual relations between women. (See news reports here.)

Read the Council’s position here

Key U.S. Accomplishments at the UN Human Rights Council

repost from www.state.gov

Fact Sheet

Washington, DC

March 30, 2011

This September will mark the two-year anniversary of U.S. membership on the United Nations Human Rights Council. U.S. engagement at the Council has led to a number of new mechanisms to spotlight and address serious human rights concerns and focused international attention to some of the world’s most egregious human rights abusers. Much work remains before the Council can fully realize its mandate as the international community’s focal point for the protection and promotion of human rights. The United States will continue to work hard to diminish the Council’s biased disproportionate focus on Israel. The United States maintains a vocal, principled stand against this focus, and will continue its robust efforts to end it.