Religious beliefs and cultural values do not justify the failure to uphold the human rights of homosexuals, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs,” Clinton said.
Her speech at the Geneva headquarters of the United Nations and its Human Rights Council (HRC) was delivered ahead of Human Rights Day on December 10, the anniversary of the U.N.’s adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
With Syrian abuses having been at the forefront of the Human Rights Council’s attention in recent days and weeks, Clinton’s focus on “LGBT rights” was unexpected, even after President Obama’s signing earlier in the day of a memorandum which the White House called the “first-ever U.S. government strategy dedicated to combating human rights abuses against LGBT persons abroad.”
“Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal, political, cultural, and religious beliefs,” Clinton said.
Her speech at the Geneva headquarters of the United Nations and its Human Rights Council (HRC) was delivered ahead of Human Rights Day on December 10, the anniversary of the U.N.’s adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
With Syrian abuses having been at the forefront of the Human Rights Council’s attention in recent days and weeks, Clinton’s focus on “LGBT rights” was unexpected, even after President Obama’s signing earlier in the day of a memorandum which the White House called the “first-ever U.S. government strategy dedicated to combating human rights abuses against LGBT persons abroad.”
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