13 If there is a man who sleeps with a male as those who sleep with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they must be put to death. They have brought their own deaths upon themselves. Leviticus 20:13
The newswire organization Reuters reported that the Uganda’s parliament on Tuesday passed a law that criminalizes identifying as LGBTQ, handing authorities broad powers to target Ugandans. More than 30 African countries, including Uganda, already ban same-sex relations.
The new law is the first to outlaw anyone identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ). The passage of the Uganda law comes on the heel of the endorsement by 194 member states of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN headquarters in New York. The two weeks were also marked with African leaders being rudely peppered with questions from western media on their countries stand on the issues.
During the two-week meeting member states held consultations, and true to form, the Western allies (the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and others) again attempted to have included in the Agreed Conclusions, language that “protects the human rights of LGBTQ people, the right to abortion, and the introduction of comprehensive sex education to school children);’ that these rights are universal/international human rights, and hence the need to include them in the Conclusions.
However, the member states vehemently argued against these notions, included the African, Caribbean, Pacific Island states, the Arabic nations, some countries from South America, and Hungary. A report from the Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam) on Friday said that after intense negotiations, the traditional countries repelled every push to add “comprehensive sexuality education” and the homosexual/trans agenda in the annual agreement” that was adopted on Sunday morning. The 2023 Agreed Conclusions does not make references to “comprehensive sexuality education”, “sexual rights”, and “sexual orientation and gender identity.
Stefano Gennarini highlighted in his report that it was not an easy sailing through as “diplomatic assaults came in wave after wave throughout the last night of the largest annual feminist gathering in the World.” He cites that the US joined by Australia the night before gave it their “last-ditch attempt to force “comprehensive sexuality education” in the Agreed Conclusions of the commission.” He added that delegates finally adopted the agreement at 4:00 AM on Sunday morning “in a mostly empty room,” since many of the official government delegations and feminist activists had departed from the General Assembly Hall.
It is a proud moment that member states of the UN from the different regions showed up, and in unity prevented the countries from the north insert language into UN documents that are not part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This unity that even threw its weight against the United Nations is a powerful guard against nations that have money, nations that want to use its money to force poor nations to accept value systems that are against cultures, against religious beliefs, and against laws of sovereign nations. This is a travesty and goes counter to the very reason d’etre of the establishment of the United Nations: respect of sovereign nations; assistance in development work of less developed nations, and respect and acceptance of cultures, and the rule of one nation, one vote.
On these rationales, the European Union in its negotiations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Island states (ACP) has dismally failed. In the post-Cotonou discussions, the EU has used its economic power to attempt to push the 79 ACP member states to accept among others, to give up their vote at such international organizations as the United Nations. Consequently, had the ACP countries agreed and signed the deceptive post-Cotonou Agreement in its current format, at the just ended CSW, at the time for voting, the ACP member states would have been compelled to vote in the manner the EU countries voted.
In other others, had the ACP countries agreed to be puppets of the EU, the contentious elements (LGBTQ rights, abortion rights, and comprehensive sexuality education) all of which did not make it into the 2023 CSW Agreed Conclusions, would have been incorporated. This would have meant that the Anti-Gay Law in Uganda, would have been against “international human rights laws.”
May the unity in the regions continue! Special salute to Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guyana on behalf of Caribbean countries, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Oman on behalf of Gulf countries, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and the Holy See.
All through the two weeks of CSW, western journalists ridiculing presidents from the developing world, also know as the poor countries, on laws, customs and values, in buzzard biased, no fair comment methods. In one of the interviews, it was a laughable moment to watch one western journalist who tried to shame and even scare one African leader by stating: “But the UN says…..”
The leader said something like “we are the UN, the United Nations is our organization.”
Many people, even in the developing countries, look at the UN as some bulldog, big brother, even the leader in international forum, that can whip countries into submission and to do that go contra to their traditions. Recently, the UN has through its agencies tried to force sovereign states to change the laws that western countries want other countries to adopt.
Like the deceptive ACP-EU post-Cotonou agreement, the UN is out of line as far as international diplomacy is concerned.
The United Nations is an employee of the entire membership; all members are equal; all members states are equal and in UN elections, the UN upholds one vote each for all elections.
The UN was created by sovereign countries for sovereign countries on the ethos of equality among equals. Regrettably, UN lately has become a whipping stick that is being used by the western and richer countries to get the rest of the world to accept or incorporate unacceptable notions, laws, and policies that the rest of the world find intolerable, disgusting, unacceptable, and against their laws.
It was a delightful moment to witness the giants of the 2023 CSW (the US, EU and it’s allies), felled in their attempts to alter the face of the UDHR.
Let there be a resolution sealing this felling of those notions. Member states may practice what they will in their respective countries; however, what they go to other countries, they must respect the other country, and resist any attempt to cause the other country change their way of doing things, beliefs, and their laws.
A melon is a melon, a grape is a grape, a cabbage is a cabbage, fish is a fish, an eagle is an eagle, etc. etc. etc!
