Granting victory to various groups clamoring for the United Nations (UN) recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) finally granted consultative status to three LGBT organisations.

“This is a very special moment for the movement,” Rosanna Flamer-Caldera, co-secretary general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), said. “State homophobia has been hit and will not remain unchallenged anymore.”

A seat at the table

ILGA’s European office obtained the coveted status along with the Danish national lesbian and gay association (LBL), and the lesbian and gay federation in Germany (LSVD). In addition to the Coalition of Activist Lesbians (Australia) and the International Wages Due Lesbians (US), they are the only LGBT groups among the 3,100 other organisations with consultative status at the UN.

Being included means the three non-government organisations can speak at UN meetings, deliver oral and written reports, and lobby member nations for their advocacies.

“It grants them a seat at the table,” Global Rights spokesperson Mark Bromley said. “It (also) allows them to submit documents and evidence of human rights abuses against LGBT communities in a formal way to the UN and many human rights experts,” he added. Global Rights is an international human rights organisation which also supported the groups’ inclusion at the UN.

Rejected applications

ILGA, ILGA-Europe, LBL, CGLQ (Coalition Gaie et Lesbienne du Quebec), and LSVD all applied for ECOSOC status in 2005. Their applications were summarily rejected without hearing in January 2006, with ten countries including the United States, China, and Iran, voting to dismiss the groups’ applications. The following May, another NGO committee meeting rejected the applications after limited debate. Voting on CGLQ’s application was postponed to 2007, using the need for translation from French to English as an excuse.

“These conservative states were desperate to both deny [consultative] status and avoid an affirming vote on the issue,” Bromley said. “They used any procedural trick they could think of to make the whole issue go away.”

In its July meeting, the full ECOSOC voted to affirm the rejection of ILGA; however, the body could not muster enough votes to confirm the rejections of ILGA-Europe, LBL, and LSVD, leading to a postponement of the three applications. ILGA treated it as a major victory, as it was the first time in 12 years that the ECOSOC had not been able to close the NGO issue at its July session.

Historic statement

Bolstering the LGBT campaigns was the landmark statement on human rights, sexual orientation, and gender identity delivered by Norway on December 1 at the United Nations Human Rights Council. Backed by 54 States, the statement condemns human rights violations against people for their sexual orientation and gender identity.

It also called on UN Special Procedures and treaty bodies to address these issues, and urged the Human Rights Council to pay attention to these human rights violations.

“This is the largest ever statement delivered at the UN on sexual orientation issues, and the first ever to explicitly highlight human rights violations based on gender identity,” John Fisher, co-director of ARC International, said.

Victory, finally

On December 11, ECOSOC finally granted consultative status to the three organisations, a move hailed by civil society groups as a “truly historic decision,” and illustrative of the United Nations’ recognition that LGBT people exist.

“This is not a question of special rights,” Flamer-Caldera said. “It is a basic question of equality and universality of human rights. We demand the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of who we are…. On the international level, this starts with the United Nations recognising the mere fact that LGBT people exist, that they can organise as groups and, as such, participate in UN work and protest against the many human rights violations we still suffer from around the world.”

Sources:
“Historic recognition of LGBT organisations at the United Nations” from International Lesbian and Gay Association, posted on December 12, 2006, <http://www.ilga.org/news_results.asp?LanguageID=1&FileCategory=44&ZoneID=7&FileID=982>.
“ILGA at the U.N. in 2006” from International Lesbian and Gay Association, <http://www.ilga.org/news_results.asp?LanguageID=1&FileCategoryID=44&FileID=936&ZoneID=7>.
“LGBT rights groups win status at U.N.” from J. Lysen, posted on December 29, 2006, <http://nyblade.com/2006/12-29/news/worldnews/>.
“NGOs around the world celebrate historic UN statement on sexual orientation and gender identity” from United Nations Human Rights Council, posted on December 5, 2006 <http://www.ilga.org/news_results.asp?LanguageID=1&FileCategory=44&ZoneID=7&FileID=945>.
“U.S. votes with Iran, Cuba, Sudan, and Zimbabwe against two gay groups at United Nations” from ILGA, posted on January 24, 2006, <http://www.ilga.org/print.asp?LanguageID=1&FileCategory=1&FileID=740&ZoneID=6&>.

FYI

The first meeting of the NGO Committee of the ECOSOC is set on January 22-February 2, 2007. It will consider the applications of the following LGBT organisations:
- CGLQ (Coalition Gaie et Lesbienne du Quebec)
- ABGLT (Brazilian Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Association)
- COC Nederlands (Netherlands)
- FELGT from Spain (Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, and Bisexual State Federation)
- GALZ (Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe)
- MCC (Metropolitan Community Churches)
- RFSL (Swedish Federation for LGBT Rights)

The following LGBT organisations are set to submit their applications in 2007, to be considered in 2008:
- CHA (Comunidad Homosexual Argentina)
- HosiWien (Australia)
- 360 (Switzerland)
- Dialogai (Switzerland)
- Lestime (Switzerland)
- Los (Switzerland)
- Pink Cross (Switzerland)

Source:
“ILGA at the U.N. in 2006” from International Lesbian and Gay Association, <http://www.ilga.org/news_results.asp?LanguageID=1&FileCategoryID=44&FileID=936&ZoneID=7>.