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Supporters of LGBT rights at the UN are preparing for the most important vote on their agenda since 2008. In November the UN General Assembly must decide whether to approve a controversial new UN post to enforce special new rights based on the sexual preference and behavior of individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) . Literally paving the way to the opening of this year’s debate, a crosswalk traversing 1st Avenue from the US mission to UN headquarters was painted with a rainbow flag so that world leaders would have to tread it on their way to the UN headquarters last week for the opening of this year’s General Assembly. The Human Rights Council established this unprecedented mandate of “independent expert on violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity” through a resolution that narrowly passed this June. The mandate has already  escalated the tension  within the United Nations over...

Image via Wikipedia The international movement to include homosexual behavior and identity within a new, specially protected class of rights is once more setting its sights on the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). The EU plans on introducing a joint statement at the Council similar to a 2008 EU-led declaration calling for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected non-discrimination categories that was submitted to the UN General Assembly and signed by 66 countries.  That 2008 declaration was met with a counter statement that was introduced the same day and signed by nearly 60 countries, as well as separate statements critical of the EU declaration that were issued by Russia, Belarus, and the Holy See. The current draft joint statement obtained by C-Fam’s Friday Fax recalls both the 2008 joint statement as well as a 2006 joint statement presented by Norway to the UN Human Rights Council and signed by 54 countries. The 2006 Norway statement focused narrowly on the is...