LGBT? Who Are They?
How can one debate over an issue everyone refuses to recognize? The debate in the United Nations Human Rights Council(UNHRC) revolved around the legal rights that a person belonging to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender(LGBT) may have. Animesh Ranjan, reporting from the same, watches the debate unfold as countries revealed their thoughts.
The debate began with the issue of the legal aspects of people with various sexual orientations and gender identities. Many states went ahead and stated points in favour of decriminalization. On the other hand, some clearly mentioned the stringent punishments that they have taken to prohibit this community. Some of the countries in favour of decriminalization were the United States of America (USA), Spain, Georgia, Brazil, the Federal Republic of Germany (Germany), the Republic of Cuba (Cuba), and the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (Nepal) to some extent. However, the Middle Eastern countries, most of which are plagued by violent situations within their provinces, had a different stance.
The Delegate of the USA stated that different sexual orientations are a genetic factor, and hence, the LGBT community should be allowed the same rights as any other citizen. The interesting point to note was that the Delegate referred to scientific analysis while they have banned the use of the word in their own budget according to a Reuters report [1]. This resulted in backlash from Syria where the Syrian Delegate mentioned that many personnel in the LGBT community suffered from mental and personality disorders. This brought forth a retort from the Delegate of France. The Delegate of Spain expressed support for the USA.
The Middle Eastern countries, just like Spain, stated laws, but they mentioned how theirs are meant to punish those found guilty of practising homosexual behaviour. When the Delegate of Burundi called this behaviour “unnatural”, the Delegate of Georgia reminded the council the first point in the Universal Declarations of Human Rights (UDHR). The Delegate of United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Delegate of Nigeria both reiterated the policy of their country against sodomy acts. The Delegates of Jordan and Egypt stood by this move while speaking against the western countries.
Quite a few delegates attempted to establish the importance of upholding the human rights such as the Representatives of Australia and the Republic of South Africa.
A different stance came out though when the Delegate of Russia expressed the stance of his country on the issue. They stated that while they do not oppress the LGBT community, they do not support it either and that the propaganda ban is in favour of this stance. The aim was to ensure that the children grew up in a traditional family, and hence, they would have the maximum options available to them.
The Delegate of Ecuador brought forth a report that suggested undergoing gender changes was criticized by the UNHCR.
The first accusation came from Iraq. They accused the United Kingdom (UK) of refusing asylum to the LGBT persons in need. Before this could proceed any further, the Delegate of the People’s Republic of China (China) supported the gender reassignment operation, adding a new dimension to the deliberation.
With this many different stances, the council seemed to be moving in a unique direction. A proper framework is what the agenda calls for. The responsibility falls upon the delegates now.
1. https://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-words/trump-administration-bans-selected-words-at-health-agencies-paper-idINKBN1EB012
(Edited by Shruthi Subramanian)
