02.12.06
Rice takes heat over anti-gay vote at U.N.
Christopher Curtis, PlanetOut Network
published Thursday, February 9, 2006
Forty-five members of Congress are demanding answers from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about the U.S. vote that prevented two LGBT organizations from participating in the U.N. Economic and Social Council.
In a letter sent Tuesday, the members of the House of Representatives called the Jan. 23 anti-gay vote at the United Nations a “drastic reversal” of Washington’s previous stand on the issue.
The letter noted that in voting to block the gay groups from the U.N. panel, “the United States joined some of the world’s most oppressive regimes, among them China, Cuba, Sudan and Zimbabwe,” and demonstrated “a reprehensible inconsistency” in protecting LGBT individuals.
The lawmakers signing the document included Democratic Reps. Eliot Engel of New York, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Tom Lantos of California, Rahm Emanuel of Illinois and Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.
Last week the State Department defended its vote against the Belgium-based International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) and the Danish National Association for Gays and Lesbians, claiming one of the organizations supported pedophilia.
ILGA expelled the North American Man Boy Love Association from its ranks in 1994. In 2002, when the United States actually voted for ILGA’s inclusion in the U.N. organization, the U.S. representative noted that ILGA did not condone pedophilia and was crucial in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Despite U.S. support in 2002, the group did not get enough votes to win consultative status in 2002. The 2006 vote had been its first chance since then to try again.
Last month, the United States abstained on a vote denying a hearing for the two groups, and then voted in favor of Iran’s proposal to deny their applications. That vote carried, 10-5, with three abstentions.
German envoy Martin Thuemmel told Reuters that the committee decision “will haunt us for a long time,” since it sends a message that discriminating against LGBT people is acceptable.
John Marble, spokesman for the National Stonewall Democrats, told the PlanetOut Network that the letter will help “draw attention to actions done by the administration” and ensure that other countries pressure the White House when it comes to LGBT issues.
“It’s a process of moving the football across the field,” Marble said.