UN Meets for First Time to Discuss LGBT Issues

 On August 24, 2015, U.S Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and her Chilean counterpart Ambassador Cristian Barros Melet held the first ever U.N. Security Council meeting on LGBT rights.  A primary focus of the meeting was the violence perpetrated against LGBT people in areas controlled by ISIS.

Ms. Power described the meeting as powerful.  “Everybody has read about what ISIL and what others are doing to LGBT people around the world, but it’s another thing entirely to hear personal testimonies. While others spoke, including members of the Security Council and other member States, photos also were projected that depicted what ISIL is doing to LGBT persons or those suspected of being LGBT.”

Power described the photos of violence toward members of the LGBTQ community as “graphic” and “gut-wrenching.”

“The last thing I would say is just that while some of the emphasis was on ISIL, particularly given the testimony of the witnesses, there was widespread recognition among those who spoke that this is not an issue by any means confined to ISIL.” 

According to CNS news, Power noted that it was only five years ago, at the Obama administration’s insistence, that the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution acknowledging LGBT rights as human rights. Since 2011, the HRC has passed a second resolution on LGBT rights; and in June, it released a report on the plight of LGBT people around the world.

The Human Rights Campaign noted:

“The situation for LGBT people around the world varies widely. As some countries embrace equality, in others, LGBT people continue to suffer from discrimination, persecution, and violence.

·  19 countries now have marriage equality and in two countries same-sex marriage is legal in certain jurisdictions.

·  But in 10 countries worldwide, same-sex activity is punishable by death, and 75 countries criminalize same-sex relationships.  Hundreds of transgender individuals have been brutally murdered in the last year.

·  In a growing number of countries, governments have sought to silence equality advocates and organizations with so-called “anti-propaganda” laws and legislation.

Much remains to be done.