ΑΠΟ ΚΟΙΝΟΥ ΔΗΛΩΣΗ ΟΡΓΑΝΩΣΕΩΝ ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΣΕΞΟΥΑΛΙΚΟ ΠΡΟΣΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΣΜΟ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΝ ΤΑΥΤΟΤΗΤΑ ΦΥΛΟΥ ΣΤΟΝ Ο.Η.Ε.

Αντιγράφω από την ιστοσελίδα της ILGA-Europe, την από κοινού δήλωση 97 λοαδ οργανώσεων από 50 χώρες του κόσμου, που έγινε στα πλαίσια του Οργανισμού Ηνωμένων Εθνών

Joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council in interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, March 2010.
Thank you Mr. President,
Madam High Commissioner, we recently had the privilege of communicating to you a letter in support of your inclusion of issues of sexual orientation and gender identity in your SMP, outlined in your Annual Report, and would like to take the opportunity of reaffirming that support in this more public setting.
I now have the honour to take the floor on behalf of 97 NGOs*, including 16 with ECOSOC accreditation. We represent human rights defenders from 50 countries in every region of the globe. While we share a commitment to equality and non-discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, we come from diverse cultures and backgrounds, and work on a broad range of issues, including the human rights of women, migrants, HIV/AIDS issues, education, health, poverty, democratic governance, and more.
We join together across our diverse regions and experiences to thank you for your commitment to promoting and protecting the human rights of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
We appreciate your recent public statements expressing deep concerns about the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda and the recent arrests in Malawi following a same-sex relationship celebration.
We also wish to express our appreciation and strong support for the explicit identification of human rights issues relating to sexual orientation in the thematic priorities of your Office, and would encourage you to also address gender identity/expression within these priorities.
These issues are of crucial and urgent human rights concern. As you will be aware, in too many countries, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people continue to face criminal sanctions, killings, violence or torture because of how we live or who we love. Lesbians are subject to so-called“curative”rape, intersex people are subject to medical abuses, transgender persons demeaned and beaten, their rights and identities unrecognised. We are denied health care or needed treatment; we routinely face discrimination in work, housing and education. In many countries, our work as human rights defenders is opposed, obstructed or banned. Our rights to peacefully gather are often denied, while attempts are made to silence our voices. Too often, the violence and abuse we endure in countries around the world goes unreported, uninvestigated and unpunished.
The opposition by some States to even recognising these as human rights violations itself highlights how important it is that violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity be explicitly addressed as thematic priorities by your Office. Inclusion of these grounds needs to be explicit, since otherwise the very States responsible for human rights violations would “interpret down” international human rights law to leave LGBTI people unprotected.
Madam High Commissioner, we know that you will face opposition from some States because of your leadership on these issues – as do all of us who work in this area. We encourage you to stay strong in the face of opposition, and know that LGBTI people around the globe look to you for leadership, take courage from your strength, and are inspired by your resolve. We commit our support to you and your Office in your work to face the challenges and ensure protection of the human rights of all people, without discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

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