LGBT rights stripped from UN development goals

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/08/05/lgbt-rights-stripped-from-un-development-goals/


Pink News
Nick Duffy
5th August 2015, 8:35 AM

A historic new UN agreement on development goals no longer makes any mention of improvements on LGBT rights.

The 193 Member States of the United Nations reached a provisional agreement on Sunday on the new sustainable development agenda that is set to be adopted by world leaders in September.
****************************************************
Just when you think the world is getting it, you read something like this. And it does make sense given the anti-LGBT sentiment around the world. Witness Nigeria telling President Obama to stuff it and the anti-gay violence in the Islamic world, even Russia, and these nations too are members of the UN, so I guess that to get an agreement they throw us under the bus. Thanks UN, for nothing.

To be honest, those long-term "kinda" global strategy and policy documents at the UN level were always in the are of soft-law and there were very few effective follow-up mechanisms. The advancement of the LGB and T rights at the moment is far more effective at national or regional levels. Besides, if we speak about binding UN treaties in the area of human rights, then I can assure that the responsible committees (the treaty monitoring bodies) are quite aware of contemporary issues in the area of the LGB and T rights and they do ask the inconvenient questions to the Contracting States and request the follow-up materials.

I keep telling people that the world does not "get" it.

I used to work at the UN some years ago. The UN has lots of influence from third world countries, particularly in Africa where homophobia and transphobia are rampant.

The best hope is to spark change in individual countries and help it spread.

President Obama at least tried when in Kenya, but they were steadfast on no LGB (and possibly T) rights.

For me my main concern is getting my birth certificate corrected... I wish that could happen.

Oh, and I agree that the UN is totally useless these days.