UNITED NATIONS, June 3 -- The UN rebuffed a gay rights group on Thursday, in a little covered bureaucratic meeting of its NGO Committee. The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission had applied for consultative status. Egypt, Qatar and others peppered the group with questions, including on whether its advocacy for gay rights might impinge on freedom of religion and of "discussion."
Finally, the US called for a vote. Egypt objected, saying that its questions to the group had not been "answered in a straight way." Some in the quarter-filled meeting room laughed. But Egypt persisted, prevailing in placing its motion, to put the application on ice, ahead of the US's motion for an up or down vote on giving consultative status.
Standing openly with the US were Romania and the UK, which to its credit called the Inner City Press to the impending showdown. Ultimately on the vote, only three more countries took the US / UK position: Colombia, Peru and Israel.
Voting to block the gay rights group's access were Egypt, Qatar, Security Council Permanent members Russia and China, Angola, Burundi, Sudan and Pakistan. Turkey, ever the self conscious bridge, abstained.
Qatar listed some if its questions, about whether the group sought "special rights for LGBT."
The UK said that allowing this block, based on repetitive questions, set a bad precedent. Even if the group answered every single questions, the UK said, the detractors would never be satisfied.
And for now, at least in the NGO committee, the detractors are in the majority.
Footnote: Inner City Press asked the spokesman for General Assembly president Ali Treki for a statement. Upon taking office, Treki called homosexuality an abomination. Now his spokesman's draft response talks about tolerance, but has a paragraph crossed out. But at today's UN the votes are what they are.
