Last week, South Africa quietly announced that it will not table a resolution on Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender rights at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 23^rd Session. There had been significant expectation from states and civil society that the resolution would be discussed at the session, which is currently taking place in Geneva. The announcement is disappointing and demonstrates a step backwards in the fight for universal protection and promotion of sexual orientation and gender identity rights.  At present, we can only speculate about the reasons for South Africa’s decision, although a brief exploration of the history and politics over recent years will lead us to make some educated guesses.

The majority of states across the world do not recognise sexual orientation and gender rights. Positive steps taken towards equal marriage in France, some US states and the UK are drowned out by the criminalisation of homosexual acts across almost all African and Islamic countries. In those and other areas, there remains systematic oppression of, and discrimination against, sexual and gender minorities. Those violations are based on a person’s acts, identities, or both. Many of those states are the ones seeking to ensure that LGBT rights are not recognised as human rights.

The UN Human Rights Council is a politicised body. Dominant regional groups and political blocs use their collective weight to promote common objectives. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) clearly aims to ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity rights are not enshrined in international human rights law. The African Group, with a few notable exceptions, takes a similar stance. Events over the past decade demonstrate those states’ insistence that LGBT persons remain an unprotected minority group.

In 2003, Brazil sought to advance LGBT rights by tabling a resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights. The OIC used various tactics to ensure that the resolution was deferred. Two years later, New Zealand’s statement in favour of sexual orientation rights was supported by 32 countries. In 2006, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Killings highlighted persecution of LGBT persons. The Commission did nothing. Continue reading →