By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, February 4 -- The International Lesbian and Gay Association has been applying to ten years for consultative status with the UN's Economic and Social Council. On Friday afternoon, Belgium called for a vote on its application. Sudan immediately countered with a No Action Motion, to block voting on Belgium's proposal and the group.
After much back and forth, the vote was called. Sudan's No Action Motion won 9 for, 7 against and one abstention (Kyrgyzstan). Surprisingly, India voted no. Cuba did not vote at all, and Mozambique was “not present.”
Here were the votes on Sudan's motion to block voting on the gay rights group:
Peru No, Russia Yes, Senegal Yes, Sudan Yes, Turkey No, USA No, Venezuela Yes, Belgium No, Bulgaria No, Burundi Yes, China Yes, Cuba __, India No, Israel No, Kyrgyzstan Abstain, Morocco Yes, Mozambique Not present, Nicaragua Yes, Pakistan Yes
After the vote, the US noted that it could re-raise the group's application at the full ECOSOC, as it did last year. A request Thursday morning to Ban Ki-moon's spokesmen for a comment on the comments on and against gay rights in the UN Committee on NGO had still not been responded to be week's end.
The question Inner City Press submitted Feb 3 was:
“In the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs earlier this week, Morocco, Sudan, Russia and Pakistan opposed consultative statsu for the Autonomous Women's Center, after noting that its application referred to discrimination against lesbians. Pakistan's representative said that whatever UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon may have said, it was on his own behalf, not on behalf of member states. Pakistan argued in the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs on Monday that discrimination against gays and lesbians is 'not recognized by the UN.'
Please provide the Secretariat's - ideally, the S-G's -- response to this characterization of the S-G's statements and whether discrimination against LGBT is “recognized by the UN.” Will Ban be doing anything for the Autonomous Women's Center, or another gay rights group denounced Wednesday morning in the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs?”
As of 6 pm on Feb 4, there was not response. Watch this site.Earlier on Friday, this is a summary of what was said about the Australian Lesbian Medical Association:
Pakistan's delegate asked if homosexuals are more prone to sexually transmitted diseases, in terms of having and transmitting those diseases. He asked the NGO support its response with medical documents...
Belgium's delegate did not believe the Committee should place conditionalities on the kind of documents to be provided.
Later on Friday, the representative of Egypt said he was was in an awkward position as a former member of the committee. He said that there was any acceptable and internationally recognized definition to “controversial” references and notions discussed. He did not recognize there was any legally bounding definitions for terms as sexual preferences or orientation or that such terms had been defined by any internationally recognized instrument in the human rights arena.
Meanwhile in Egypt...
