The Organisation of American States (OAS) approved its second resolution on “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” at its 39th General Assembly held in San Pedro Sula, Honduras from June 1–3.
“This resolution is the result of the advocacy and coordination activities realized in the past three years by 24 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Travesti, Transgender, Transsexual and Intersex (LGBTTTI) groups of 17 countries forming a Coalition of Latin America and the Caribbean, that meets every year before the General Assembly to coordinate its advocacy work within the OAS,” SASOD–Guyana (Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination) said in a press release.
SASOD is a group based in Guyana which is committed to eradicating discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.
The release stated that during the informal dialogue between the Secretary General of the OAS and the civil society on May 31, 2009 in San Pedro Sula, José Miguel Insulza highlighted the need that the secretariat should produce a special report focusing in particular on hate crimes and human rights violations against individuals because of their sexual diversity.
Meanwhile, Claudia Sosa Medina, a Honduran transgender woman, read a statement as spokesperson of the coalition in which activists from Guyana as well as Honduras, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Brazil, Ecuador, Suriname, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and Belize requested the ministers of foreign affairs of the OAS member countries to intervene against acts of violence against LGBTTTI persons in the Americas.
Moreover, the US government representative reminded the General Assembly of the commitment of President Barack Obama to support laws for the development of policies that recognize the rights of LGBT people and highlighted the signature of her country to the UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity, and expressed their opposition to the so-called sodomy laws.
The release also noted that Brazil sponsored the draft resolution “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity”, while Colombia underlined that the issue was particularly important for the government, and the parliament had approved instruments to eliminate discriminatory acts against LGBT people.
Saint Kitts & Nevis expressed its opposition to any form of violence against any individual, regardless of the orientation of the human being.
SASOD also observed that the new resolution, sponsored by Brazil, not only condemns acts of violence and human rights violations perpetrated against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, but also expresses its concern for violence against human rights defenders who work on these kinds of violations.
It also called on the states to ensure their protection and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American system to take action on the topic.
The resolution also reiterated its request to the Committee on Legal and Political Affairs to include the issue of “sexual orientation and gender identity” in its agenda during the next ordinary period of sessions.
“We thank the OAS, UNDP, Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, and Global Rights for their support which made our participation at this year’s General Assembly possible,” SASOD added.