The U.N. Human Rights Council has just voted to adopt a resolution expressing “grave concern” over anti-LGBT violence and discrimination.
Early this afternoon the United Nations Human Rights Council voted 25-14 to adopt a resolution denouncing violence and discrimination against LGBT people. The symbolism of this resolution is historic.
Michael Lavers at the Washington Blade reports debate took “more than an hour,” and the Council “rejected seven proposed amendments that sought to strip LGBT-specific language from the proposal.”
In an earlier article, Lavers reported a draft of the resolution “expresses ‘grave concern’ over anti-LGBT violence and discrimination.”
Brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Colombia earlier this month formally proposed the resolution. The U.S., Israel, Australia and New Zealand are among the more than 40 countries that support it.
Egypt, Uganda, Pakistan and South Sudan are among the countries that have sought amendments to the proposed resolution that would eliminate LGBT-specific references from it.
“The council is confirming that LGBT people have universal human rights,†Jessica Stern, executive director of The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) said in a statement. “We know, of course, that the struggle is long, and that we will need the Council to focus on the violations we suffer for many years to come. But for now, we celebrate that the majority of States stood with us to declare, unequivocally, that human rights are for everyone, everywhere.â€
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