IGLHRC wins battle for UN inclusion

Following a grueling last-minute push, the International Gay and Lesbian
Human Rights Commission won consultative status at the United Nations
Economic and Social Council on July 19.

After three years of opposition at the committee level, IGLHRC, with a
strong assist from the U.S. government, managed to circumvent the
obstructionist committee by moving the vote on its status directly to the
full ECOSOC, where the vote was 23 in favor, 13 against, 13 abstentions
and 5 absences.

IGLHRC becomes the 10th LGBT organization to have successfully outgunned
U.N. homophobes and achieved consultative status.

Voting for IGLHRC were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada,
Chile, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Japan,
Liechtenstein, Malta, Norway, Peru, Poland, Slovenia, South Korea, United
Kingdom, United States and Uruguay.

Voting against the group were Bangladesh, China, Comoros, Egypt, Malaysia,
Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and
Zambia.

Abstaining were Bahamas, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, India, Mauritius, Moldova,
Mongolia, Mozambique, Philippines, Rwanda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Turkey and
Ukraine. Not present were Cameroon, Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Iraq and St.
Lucia.

Of its long-running battle at the committee level, IGLHRC said: “Despite
full compliance with all procedures, IGLHRC faced deferrals, homophobic
questioning and procedural roadblocks in the ECOSOC NGO Committee. …
Today’s decision overturned a ‘no-action’ vote in the NGO Committee that
threatened to establish a dangerous precedent and the possibility of
organizations deemed controversial being continuously denied the
opportunity to have their application put to a vote even after undergoing
the required review.”

Ambassador Susan Rice, the United States’ permanent U.N. representative,
publicly supported IGLHRC’s application, along with 14 members of the U.S.
House of Representatives and four U.S. senators, including Sen. John
Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. Howard
Berman, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

President Barack Obama welcomed the news, calling it an “important step
forward for human rights.”

“The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission will take its
rightful seat at the table of the United Nations,” Obama said. “The U.N.
was founded on the premise that only through mutual respect, diversity and
dialogue can the international community effectively pursue justice and
equality. Today, with the more full inclusion of (IGLHRC), the United
Nations is closer to the ideals on which it was founded, and to values of
inclusion and equality to which the United States is deeply committed.”

With its new status, IGLHRC will be able to attend meetings, submit
statements and collaborate with the U.N. and national governments on
human-rights issues.

“We celebrate this decision,” said Toni Reis, president of Brazil’s
Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis e
Transexuais, which, in 2009, achieved ECOSOC consultative status.

“It is crucial that LGBT NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) have the
opportunity to participate in the U.N. human rights debate — though in
the future, organizations should receive full and fair reviews before the
NGO Committee itself,” he said.

By Rex Wockner