Listen up, people: Homosexuality is “not acceptable” to Ali Abdussalam Treki, of Libya, the new president of the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly. And guess what, since most of the mainstream media are too preoccupied with other issues to tell you exactly what this guy said, we’ve decided to take it upon ourselves to scoop up the video from the UN website, upload it onto Youtube and let the world know.
When asked specifically about a UN resolution that calls for the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality (the declaration we told you about late last year hasn’t actually been ratified yet), here’s what he had to say:
“That matter is very sensitive and very touchy for many countries. I think, as a Muslim, I myself am not in favor of that. And it’s not only the Muslim countries, I can see it is not accepted by the majority of countries. And there are some countries that allow that, thinking it is a kind of democracy. I think it is not, in my opinion. If this is raised to the General Assembly, then the General Assembly will have to make a decision on that matter, but definitely, I am not personally in favour of this matter at all. I think it is not acceptable by our religion, our traditions and the Muslim world, who almost [comprise] more than 2 billion people in the world. I think also, for other religious communities, it’s not acceptable also… I think it’s the same for Buddhist and Hindu communities too. So, it’s a very touchy issue. But of course if they submit this to the General Assembly, we’ll see how the General Assembly will react.”
Doesn’t it just warm your heart to know that the man who heads a supranational organization that’s supposed to represent all 6.8 billion people of humanity is such an ardent defender of human rights? Reactions have been trickling in over the weekend. More after the jump:
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said,
“The anti-gay bigotry spewed by this Qaddafi shill demonstrates once again that the UN has been hijacked by advocates of hate and intolerance… Congress must demand better by enacting pending legislation that would leverage our contributions to the UN to produce sweeping, meaningful reform of that body.”
Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank:
“This is par for the course for a Libyan official – offensive, stupid and bigoted.”
Illinois Representative Mike Quigley:
“I respect that there is a healthy diversity of viewpoints across our country and around the world, but to preserve that very freedom of expression, human rights need to be our common denominator… With regard to the gentleman’s remarks, what’s ‘not acceptable’ is drawing geographic borders around equality.”
Sunil Babu Pant, Member of Parliament in Nepal and Asia’s first out gay politician:
I, Sunil Babu Pant, MP from Nepal, strongly denounce new President of the United Nations’ ‘unacceptable’ views on homosexuality”.
I am extremely concern and saddened when I heard: Taking his post at the opening of the 64th General Assembly of the United Nations, on 15 September 2009, Libyan Ali Abdussalam Treki suggested that homosexuality was unacceptable.
The newly-elected President was asked during his press conference about the UN Resolution calling for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality. “That matter is very sensitive, very touchy. As a Muslim, I am not in favour of it…it is not accepted by the majority of the countries. My opinion is not in favour of this matter at all, I think it is not really acceptable by our religion, our tradition”, he said.
I call on the President to represent all countries and people of all walks not only Muslims. He is there to defend the principles of the United Nations and that includes the Universal Declaration Human Rights Act 1948 and all following amendments and covenants of rights, including LGBT Human Rights.
His religious views should remain private and he must now speak on behalf of those who do not have a voice. He should know that the implications of his words could legitimize violence and hatred towards LGBTI people in country like Libya.
Nepal, along with 66 countries, signed the Resolution in favour of the decriminalization of homosexuality and passed last December. Nepal is very much committed to realize full equality and justice for all regardless of sexual orientations and gender identities.
Sunil Babu Pant
MP, Nepal
Founder, Blue Diamond Society
Coordinator, Parliamentary Action Team on Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction.
Inner City Press has done some excellent in-depth reporting on the issue, and reports that Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has now also refused to follow through on the vote. As mentioned earlier, last year’s resolution was just a declaration signed by 66 member states that does not have the legal status of a resolution of the General Assembly.
So there you have it. An unabashedly homophobic President of the General Assembly and a Secretary-General who chooses to remain silent. Great hopes for world peace.
Watch this space.
2 Responses
October 6th, 2009 at 5:42 am
okay this man is lacking some brain cells! i am part Buddhist and Hindu community, and all of those people that go with me too thinks its perfectly fine, other than my mother, cause she is a hardcore mexican.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Very sad to see that! I don’t understand how such a narrow-minded person can be elected in such a position. Like Itzy said, he doesn’t even represent the Buddhist and Hindu community in a right way but just uses them to make his point…
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