Economic and Social Council debates international gay rights

At the 32^nd annual MSMUN Conference, the Economic and Social Council passed two resolutions protecting the rights of the international LGBT community.

 

In many Islamic or otherwise socially conservative nations, the homosexual, bisexual, and transsexual communities face discrimination, hate crimes, and live under fear of death. ECOSOC focused on repealing laws that criminalize homosexuality, abolishing the death penalty for  homosexual relations, and increasing international public awareness of LGBT issues.

In Resolution 1.1, a bloc of countries led by Belarus and India advocated public awareness campaigns that include pride parades,  national holidays, and greater acceptance in popular media.

“The greatest strength of our working paper lies in education,” said Farhan Rawsar, the delegate from Belarus:  “We want to encourage gradual acceptance of LGBT rights. We don’t believe in forcing anyone to do something that is outside of ECOSOC’s power.”

This resolution recognized the economic benefits of embracing the LGBT community and emphasized the gradual change of cultural standards to tolerate sexual minorities.

Some nations, however, believed the resolution altered a nation’s cultural identity. “This [working paper] is quite the opposite of progress…This is an example of cultural erosion. We cannot support such a resolution,” said Arunabh Singh, the delegate from Ghana.

In resolution 1.2, another coalition approached the problem from a political perspective, denouncing practices such as systematic discrimination against, imprisonment of, and killing of minorities.

“We’re not asking you to change your culture or your religion – we’re just asking you to stop harming these people. . . Don’t put them in jail or kill them,” said French delegate Spencer Brady.

“It’s tolerance, not acceptance,” added Japanese delegate Cameron Cox.

                                   Delegates from Germany, Japan, Mexico, France, Cuba, and Brazil                                               present Working Paper 1.2, which passed with a 22-9 vote.

Resolution  1.2, sponsored by Germany, France, Mexico, Cuba, and Brazil, asked nations to decriminalize consensual sexual deviation and to abolish the death penalty for being homosexual.

Nations which currently consider homosexuality a criminal offense, punishable by death, dispute the solution presented in Resolution 1.2. “I do not support this [resolution] because they are proposing immediate decriminalization, which is too big a change too quickly,” said Qatari delegate Antara Jaima.

 

As a result, Islamic nations such as Qatar, Iraq, Pakistan, and Indonesia formed an alliance to draft a more moderate Working Paper 1.3, which asked each nation to “not penalize individuals for private acts of homosexuality.”

Working Paper 1.3 condemned the death penalty but did not ask for decriminalization. In the end, this working paper failed 5-25 because of ambiguities and contradictions.