U.S. stalls signing U.N. rights statement

[struggle4progress]

Source: Washington Blade

Gay-supportive document proposed by European nations
By LOU CHIBBARO JR
Dec 10, 2:22 PM

... More than 50 countries have signed the statement.

“The statement will call on all governments around the world to ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity are not subjected to criminal penalty, and that individuals are not executed, arrested or otherwise detained because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” according to the Council for Global Equality, a human rights group that advocates for gay and transgender rights.

Mark Bromley, the group’s chair, said .... activists lobbying the State Department on behalf of the statement believed the delay in U.S. acceptance of the document was due to distractions related to the transition from the Bush administration to the new administration headed by President-elect Barack Obama ...

U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), the only openly lesbian member of Congress, .... along with Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who chairs the House International Affairs Committee, and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East & South Asia, sent a joint letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to arrange for the U.S. to sign the statement by next week ...

Read more: http://www.nyblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=22924

---

U.S. Refuses to Endorse U.N. Call to End Gay ’Crimes’
Tuesday Dec 9, 2008

... It will be tabled in the General Assembly on Wednesday by France with the backing of all 27 member states of the European Union; plus non-EU European nations such as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Ukraine, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, Armenia and Macedonia. Russia and Turkey are not signing.

The call for the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships also has the support of the Latin American states of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay - but not, notably, Columbia, Peru, Guyana or Venezuela.

Only three African nations--Gabon, Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau--are endorsing the declaration so far. South Africa has not signed up. No Caribbean nation has offered its support (not even Cuba). Although New Zealand is committed to the declaration, Australia is not. Nor is the United States. But Canada is a sponsor.

No country in the Middle East, apart from Israel, endorses the declaration, and in Asia only Japan has agreed to approve it. China and India are silent on where they stand ...

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=84406

[HereSince1628]

1. Sad, but I believe an honorable president will fix that.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Wouldn't be surprised if Obama signed it the first thing after taking his Oath.

[Javaman]

3. is it just me, or is the world putting a fine point on just how stupid moron* is?

or is the world so dumb that they can't wait for Obama to get in?

[defendandprotect]

4. We still haven't signed CEDAR, if I recall correctly ---

[struggle4progress]

5. Ireland among 14 states that restrict rights of gay partners (Reuters via Irish Times)

BRUSSELS – The majority of EU states, including the Republic of Ireland, deny same-sex partners of EU citizens the full right to move to join them as they do not recognise homosexual unions, the European Commission said yesterday.

“If a union is recognised in one member state, then another member should in principle accept that union,” justice commissioner Jacques Barrot told a news conference. EU citizens have the right to live in any of the union’s 27 states with their family but that does not apply in all states to the registered partners of homosexual citizens.

A commission report showed that 14 states – Ireland, Germany, Austria, France, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Cyprus, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Slovenia and Latvia – do not give full entry and residence rights to partners of same-sex couples. Mr Barrot said the situation varied widely among the 14 states, with some allowing same-sex partners into the country and others imposing excessively strict requirements. – (Reuters)


http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2008/1211/1228864661593.html