In a historic vote of 23 for to 19 against, with 3 abstentions, the United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a landmark resolution (A/HRC/17/L.9/Rev.1) “expressing grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.” The resolution, passed just 4 days ago on June 17, seeks to conduct a study of discriminatory laws and violent activities against LGBT people all over the world and to provide recommendations to prevent such.
While the resolution does not have any real teeth, this is still a really important follow-up to the proposed 2008 UN declaration since the resolution actually propels the UN Human Rights Council to take an action. Even if that action is just a study, it will shed light on discriminatory practices and acts of violence committed against people simply because they have a different sexual orientation or gender identity.
This is easily the best single LGBT-related news I have read this Pride Month! As I have said before, while some people are fighting for the recognition of gay marriage and other gay rights, let’s not forget the fact that LGBT people in other parts of the world are actually harassed, tortured, or even murdered just for being gay. This isn’t just an issue of gay rights: it is, first and foremost, an issue of human rights.
(In other news, this is my 200th post on Discreet Manila. Hooray!)
3 comments:
This is good news indeed but I'm afraid it won't penetrate much when the majority of our society is still blind to the idea worse they'll hate it since there's no more mocking 3rd gendered citizens.
@backdooracademy, society of course won't change overnight. But this UN resolution is certainly a start.
And we haven't talked about the legalization of gay marriage in New York here... These are "baby steps" toward gender equity, and is a good news for members of the "third sex"...
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