New York City, N.Y., Jan 9, 2010 / 10:58 am
Though a coalition of socially conservative nations last month defeated an effort to add sexual orientation and gender identity as non-discrimination categories to a United Nations resolution, the vote showed that most traditionally Catholic nations aligned with socially “progressive” nations.
A coalition centered in Africa, the Islamic world and parts of the English-speaking Caribbean defeated a coalition led by European Union states, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) reports in its Friday Fax.
However, these “global north” countries were joined by Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and the Philippines in voting to retain a reference to a treaty General Comment that contained non-discrimination provisions concerning gender identity and sexual orientation.
C-FAM says the terms are controversial because they are not clearly defined and have never been approved in a legally-binding document. The terms are favored by activists promoting a “broad homosexual rights agenda.”