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The Council for Global Equality Submits Report to the UN's Universal Periodic Review

At the end of April, the Council for Global Equality and its 19 organizational members submitted a report to the United Nations on the human rights record of the United States, focusing on a variety of LGBT issues here at home. This submission is a rare example of international and domestic advocacy coming together to invigorate one another. The report was submitted for "Universal Periodic Review" (UPR), a relatively new mechanism of the UN's Human Rights Council by which every nation has its own human rights record reviewed by other states in a peer review process. This process is one of the key "naming and shaming" tools that the UN uses to address human rights issues around the world, and it is a mechanism that LGBT groups have increasingly relied on to draw international attention to our struggles for equality.

As a part of the Universal Periodic Review process, the State Department and other federal officials have traveled the country convening "listening sessions" to help shape the U.S. report to the United Nations.  In April, they heard from groups in San Francisco, including a panel of individuals convened by the Council for Global Equality who testified to the impact of abuses committed on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity here in the United States. Those powerful and heartbreaking personal stories can be heard here (UPR LGBT Panel ), and they remind us that these are not esoteric issues of international treaty law - these are real issues that impact real people every day in our country and in so many other countries around the world.
 
:United States of America
 

U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Condemning the "Anti-Homosexuality" Bill in Uganda

The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed a resolution introduced by U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Susan Collins (R-ME) condemning the “Anti-Homosexuality” bill in Uganda and calling for all countries to decriminalize consensual homosexual relations.  See a copy of the resolution and the press statement from Sen. Feingold.

The bipartisan nature of the resolution, which bridges strong ideological divides in the Senate, reflects the extent to which US officials, from Congressional leaders to the President to the Secretary of State to our Ambassador in Uganda, have spoken with one voice to oppose the bill as a fundamental assault on basic human rights.  It is also remarkable in its forward leaning posture, as it looks beyond this one odious bill in Uganda and calls on all countries to decriminalize consensual homosexual conduct and protect the fundamental human rights of LGBT individuals.

 

 
:Uganda
 

U.S. State Department Releases Human Rights Report to Congress

hclinton_hrreports_2010March 11, 2010 – The State Department today released a report to Congress that examines the human rights record of every country around the world.  Once again, the report documents a growing crisis in human rights abuse directed against LGBT people worldwide.


For the first time ever, most of the country chapters have a dedicated section examining “societal abuses, discrimination, and acts of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”  In its cumulative impact, the report makes clear that LGBT rights are firmly rooted in basic human rights protections and that those protections are under severe attack in the world today.

Responding to the coverage of Uganda in the report, senior adviser and former U.S. Ambassador Michael Guest applauded “President Obama’s and Secretary Clinton’s principled belief that the human rights of LGBT people cannot be separated from those of all of society.”  Emphasizing that “many of the most egregious abuses have been committed in countries considered to be friends and allies of the United States,” he urged that the State Department develop strategies to counter intolerance and homophobia in every region, drawing on all the tools of American diplomacy.

See the Council’s full press release here.

See an edited compendium of all LGBT references in the report here.

Watch a short video of Secretary Clinton delivering remarks to the press about the Release of the 2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

 
:United States of America
 

Uganda Resolutions Mark Washtington Prayer Breakfast

sharrett_obama_05-prayerbfastAt the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington on February 4, President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton both condemned the “Anti-Homosexuality” bill that is currently being debated in parliament in Uganda. President Obama referred to it as an “unconscionable” and “odious” law. And Secretary of State Clinton, noting that the administration is “standing up for gays and lesbians,” emphasized that she recently called Uganda’s President to express her “strongest concerns” about the law being debated in parliament there. Several advocacy groups also came together to organize an “American Prayer Hour” in 17 cities to raise awareness around the Uganda bill and its connection to conservative religious figures in the United States.

Two resolutions condemning the Uganda Anti-Homosexuality bill were introduced in the House and the Senate during this same week. House Resolution 1064 was introduced with bipartisan support from more than three dozen members of Congress. A Senate resolution was introduced with bipartisan support from Senators Feingold (D-WI), Coburn (R-OK), Cardin (D-MD) and Collins (R-ME). We ask that you help mobilize additional support  for these resolutions by calling your representatives and asking them to join as cosponsors.

Find out how to help kill the "Kill the Gays" bill

View short video of Obama and Clinton at the National Prayer Breakfast

 

 
:Uganda
 

Ugandan and American Human Rights Activists Testify Against proposed Uganda "Anti-Homosexuality Bill"

On January 21, 2010 Ugandan and American human rights activists came together to testify against the proposed Uganda “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” at a hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress. The hearing is the latest in a series of actions by the U.S. government to signal its disapproval of the measure under consideration in the Ugandan parliament. Over 90 members of Congress also signed a letter to Ugandan President Museveni condemning the proposed legislation and another letter to President Obama supporting current U.S. efforts in bilateral relations against the bill and requesting continued pressure from the U.S. government.

View a short clip of Tammy Baldwin's opening remarks.

Read the Press Release and Letter to Pres. Museveni issued by Senators Durbin and Cardin.

 
:Uganda
 
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