UN VIDEO: STATE HOMOPHOBIA IS ILLEGAL
Ahead of the International Day Against Homophobia on Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Office has released a video addressing the plight of millions of LGBT people around the world.
The video, titled The Riddle, features people asking questions such as:
“What exists in every corner of the world, embraced and celebrated in some countries, but is illegal in 76?” and “What is hidden for fear of public shame, imprisonment, torture or in seven counties even, even the death penalty?”
The answer is revealed to be “being gay, lesbian, bisexual” and “transgender”.
The video concludes with messages from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
Pillay points out that “Every nation is obligated by International Human Rights Law to protect all lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people from torture, discrimination and violence.”
Ban goes on to say: “The United Nations has one simple message to the millions of LGBT people around the world…”
According to the video, that message is: “You are not alone. LGBT rights are human rights. Together we will build a world that is free and equal.”
In April, Ban told delegates at the Oslo Conference on Human Rights that “I respect culture, tradition and religion ﾖ but they can never justify the denial of basic rights.”
He went on to promise LGBT people that “as Secretary-General of the United Nations, I will denounce attacks against you… and I will keep pressing leaders for progress.”
Watch the new UN video below.
The main difficulty facing outsiders trying to change attitudes is that the governments of these countries reflect the homophobic attitudes of those who elect them, as is the case in Russia for example, where statutes outlawing homosexuals’ freedoms are being passed with impunity.
The ordinary citizen in these jurisdictions sincerely believes that when gays and lesbians are bashed and murdered, and subjected to “corrective rape”, they are getting what they deserve, and that their attackers are doing “God’s work”.
Religion is at the heart of practically all homophobia. Religion is the scourge of the homosexual. People have the civil right to their religious beliefs, but they do not have the authority to deny others their right to a different religious belief, or no religious belief at all. And they certainly do not have the right to deny homosexuals our civil right to love another human being of our own choosing.