Respect gay rights, UN's Ban tells African leaders
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in an unusually outspoken declaration on Sunday, told African leaders they must respect gay rights, an issue that is controversial in many African states.
“One form of discrimination ignored or even sanctioned by many states for too long has been discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Ban said at an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital.
“It prompted governments to treat people as second-class citizens or even criminals,” he added.
Homosexuality is outlawed in most African countries and discrimination against gays and lesbians is rife on the continent, with South Africa being the only country that recognises gay rights and same-sex marriage, at least on paper.
However, previous external criticism of restrictions imposed on homosexuals has attracted angry responses from African leaders, who claim it is alien to their culture.
Notes
-
liberalchristian liked this
-
mindbabies liked this
-
chos reblogged this from caraobrien
-
randomactsofchaos liked this
-
randomactsofchaos reblogged this from caraobrien
-
dougsnewtumblelog liked this
-
bronwynlewis liked this
-
karmabum liked this
-
caraobrien posted this
