Gay Rights/Human Rights

UN General Assembly to consider a declaration urging the decriminalisation of homosexuality worldwide  

By Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner

A declaration calling for an end to the criminalisation of same-sex relationships is expected to be put before the United Nations General Assembly in the next two weeks, probably around 15 to 20 December, according to latest reports.
It will be the first time in its history that the UN General Assembly has had before it a declaration in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) human rights.

Although not binding on the member states, the declaration of principle will have immense symbolic value, given the six decades in which homophobic persecution has been ignored by the UN General Assembly (although LGBT human rights has been previously raised in other UN forums and commissions).

Even today, not a single international human rights convention explicitly acknowledges the human rights of LGBT people. The right to physically love the person of one's choice is nowhere enshrined in any global humanitarian law. No convention specifically recognises sexual rights as human rights. None offer explicit protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Yet 86 countries (nearly half the nations on Earth) still have a total ban on male homosexuality and a smaller number also ban sex between women. The penalties in these countries range from a few years jail to life imprisonment. In at least seven countries or regions of countries (all under Islamist jurisdiction), the sentence is death, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Mauritania and parts of Nigeria and Pakistan.  

See the global survey of homophobia, published by the International Gay and Lesbian Association:

The UN decriminalisation declaration will be tabled in the General Assembly with the backing of all 27 member states of the European Union.

South Africa and the US are among the many countries that have not indicated their backing.
In the run up to the presentation of the declaration in the UN General Assembly, countries that have not signed up so far, are likely to confirm their support.

An all-out lobbying effort in the next week will increase our chances of a large roll-call of UN member states in support of the declaration.