There is an excellent piece in today's Guardian about the upcoming vote at the UN about a General Assembly resolution calling for the global decriminalization of homosexuality. While not a country by country breakdown, there is lots of "interesting" information on who is supporting and who isn't. Also "interesting" is the silence coming out of Venezuela, Cuba and, most disturbingly, South Africa. As for the rest, the names should be familiar to those who followed the recent "anti-blasphemy" resolution thread.
UN to vote again, decriminalization of homosexuality
Mon, 2008-12-08 16:29
#1
bagkitty
UN to vote again, decriminalization of homosexuality
Tue, 2008-12-09 01:07
#2
ceti
Most importantly, India and China together are silent on this as well, and all of South Asia (1.5 billion people) as Tatchell says still criminalize homosexuality. The vote will be interesting though -- the issue is a total international minefield, even more so than family planning.
Fri, 2008-12-19 04:11
#3
bagkitty
Update: this is not, as was reported earlier, going to be voted on by the General Assembly, but was a declaration read into the record of the Assembly on Thursday (18 Dec). There were 66 signatories to the declaration, both Cuba and Venezuela came on board. The U.S. weasled out (legalistic arguments based on respecting U.S. states' rights) - South Africa did not sign on. There is also, apparently, a counter declaration being organized by conservative Islamic countries (with the Vatican cheering them on), apparently they have almost 60 signatories.
Coverage is sketchy (the Globe and Mail, for example, devotes several paragraphs to explaining the American position, but fails to mention that Canada is a signatory). The best coverage I can find at this point, including a list of signatories) can be found here.
Fri, 2008-12-19 17:08
#4
Another great initiative by the government of France. Rama Yade (their state secretary for human rights) is doing some very interesting things. Must infuriate the OIC that she's a Muslim.
Fri, 2008-12-19 18:15
#5
ceti
Thanks bagkitteh.
Fri, 2008-12-19 18:32
#6
ceti
Here's the 66 signatories to this declaration (Most of Europe and Latin America), but no US.
Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cape Verde,
Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia,
Germany, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Nicaragua, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Sao
Tome and Principe, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste,
United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela
Fri, 2008-12-19 19:53
#7
The U.S. brought up "state's rights"? Oh great. The last stand of the Southern sheriff.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Our Demands Most Moderate are/
We Only Want The World!
-James Connolly
Fri, 2008-12-19 20:43
#8
The US is so freaking backwards. I would seriously hate to live there as a bi, gay or lesbian. What a screwed up country.
Sat, 2008-12-20 14:03
#9
ceti
This is the most interesting bit of news, as Nepal's shift on gay rights is as new as the new Maoist-led government. It became the only South Asian country to support the declaration:
Kathmandu: Nepal's ruling Maoist party, which till a year ago regarded homosexuality as a perversion threatening to corrupt society, will strike a blow for gay rights at the UN later this month, marking a sea-change in the organisation that took up arms to seize power.
Nepal's first Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, who is defying the hardliners in his own party to push for a liberal multi-party democracy, has asked the foreign ministry and Nepal's ambassador to the UN to support a statement that will be tabled at the UN General Assembly this month recognising human rights violations on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Prachanda, a former revolutionary whose once banned party waged a 10-year war on the state to end the monarchy, renewed his commitment to gay rights on Wednesday to a delegation led by Nepal's only publicly gay lawmaker Sunil Babu Pant. - source
Gay marriage was also recently legalized by the courts in Nepal. Quite a bit more progressive than other countries which still use the 1860 Penal Code inherited from the British.