Hello, I'm Charles Radcliffe, at the UNited Nations.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights opens with the immortal words
“All human beings are born free and equal.”
Yet, around the world, lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and intersex people
are harassed, attacked, imprisoned
and treated in a discriminatory manner.
For many, the promise of the Universal Declaration rings hollow.
They feel anything but free and equal.
In 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay
launched a global appeal for the decriminalization
of homosexuality and for further measures
to end homophobic violence and discrimination.
Since then, we have seen the adoption of the first ever
UN resolution on the issue
the first official UN report documenting abuses
and the first formal, intergovernmental debate.
After a long period of denial, a dialogue among States
is at last unfolding at the United Nations.
A lid has been lifted.
This is an issue where the politics are shifting fast.
In 2005, when a statement expressing
concern at violations against LGBT people
was first circulated at the UN, 32 countries sign it.
Within a year, that number had grown to 54.
By 2008, it had increased to 67 and,
by 2011, to 85 States from all regions.
Even so, deep divisions remain.
And it is the same objections that come up again and again.
First, that LGBT people are asking for new rights or special rights.
In fact, the rights being demanded are neither new nor special.
They are age-old and universal.
They are the same rights we are all entitled to
Among them, the right to life to personal security,
privacy, health and education,
to freedom from discrimination and
freedom of expression, association and assembly.
So, no new rights needed, just proper enforcement of existing ones.
Second, some say that because human rights treaties
do not explicitly mention homophobic discrimination,
States have no legal obligation to tackle it.
But international law requires States
to protect the rights of everyone
without distinction.
There is no fine print, no hidden exemption clause,
in any of our international human rights treaties
that would permit a State to guarantee full rights
to some but withhold them from others purely on
the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Third, there is the view that sexual orientation
and gender identity are somehow Western concepts
being unfairly imposed on unwilling nations.
But sexual orientation and gender identity
are no more Western than racial identity,
or disability or age are Western notions.
We all have a sexual orientation and a gender identity,
whether we talk about it or not.
It is part of our make up as human beings.
If anything can be traced to the West
it is the existence of many criminal laws
used to prosecute and punish people on the basis of
their sexual orientation and gender identity.
These laws, still in place in some 76 countries
were in most cases imposed in the 19th Century
by the colonial powers of the day.
They are relics of a bygone age.
Perhaps the most common objection we hear
is that same sex-relationships run counter to
religious teachings and prevailing traditional
and cultural values in many societies.
It would be wrong to underestimate
the importance of tradition,
culture and religion in shaping society.
But they are not monolithic,
nor can they override individual freedoms.
The collective, however united, cannot impose its shared traditions,
culture and religious beliefs on an individual against his or her wishes.
Take religion: freedom of religion is a fundamental right,
anchored in international law.
People are fully entitled to believe and to follow in their own lives
whatever religious teachings they choose.
What’s more, they are entitled to protection from discrimination
on the basis of their religious beliefs.
But they are not entitled to discriminate
against others whose views
and values differ from their own.
This not the first time that tradition, culture and religion
have been used as a pretext for denying people equal rights.
Slavery, child marriage, marital rape, honor killings,
denial of property and inheritance rights to women,
female genital mutilation
all have been defended in their time on grounds of tradition,
culture or religion.
In this case, the conflict between the rights of LGBT people,
on the one hand, and culture, tradition and religion,
on the other, is a false one.
The protection of one need not be at the expense of the other.
The key is to bring the debate back to the rights of individuals,
including the right to define their own values, beliefs
and culture for themselves.
We still have a long way to go
to end violence and discrimination
against LGBT people.
The debate here at the United Nations is just starting.
To be meaningful, it must be informed – by the facts.
And that requires violations to be systematically monitored,
documented and reported.
The same level of scrutiny should apply to these violations as to others.
This is a great human rights cause, on a par with earlier struggles
to eliminate other kinds of prejudice and discrimination.
Overcoming resistance, countering prejudice,
convincing Governments to step up and protect LGBT people
None of this will be easy.
But the defense of basic rights demands nothing less of us.
Thank you.