Trans Left Out Again - This Time By The UN

Monica Roberts of TransGriot wrote

Damn, can my trans brothers and trans sisters get any love in any organizational body this holiday season?

Despite having transpeople such asSass Rogando Sasotand Miss Major testify in front of UN commissions about the discrimination and violence we face around the world, when it came time for the UN to stand and deliver on a resolution on unjustified killings, guess who was left in the cold again?

Every two years the UN General Assembly passes resolutions condemning extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions and other killings. The resolution condemns killings for racial, national, ethnic, religious or linguistic reasons and killings of refugees, indigenous people and other groups. In 2008 an explicit reference condemning killing based on the victim's sexual orientation was inserted into the resolution. .


Last month there was a resolution sponsored by Muslim, Caribbean and African nations in the UN General Assembly's Human Rights Committee to delete the sexual orientation reference in that extrajudicial killings resolution . The successful action by the Bloc of Haters to remove it triggered a firestorm of criticism from Western nations, human rights organizations and activists around the world.

It led to a resolution sponsored by the United States to restore the 'sexual orientation' reference that was removed last month with the main opposition coming from the same nations that led the push to remove it.

The resolution to restore the language passed in committee with 93 votes in favor, 55 against and 27 abstentions. It then went to the 192 nation member UN General Assembly and passed with 122 YES votes, none against and 59 abstentions.

"Today, the United Nations General Assembly has sent a clear and resounding message that justice and human rights apply to all individuals regardless of their sexual orientation," said US Ambassador to the UN Dr. Susan Rice in a statement.

Boris Dittrich of Human Rights Watch echoed Dr. Rice. "We are relieved by the result of the vote," he said in a statement "Countries that tried to roll back crucial protections for gay and lesbian people have been defeated."

Congratulations* GL community. While once again you've had your human rights affirmed and this time in an international arena, the human rights of the trans people around the world who are taking the brunt of the hate casualties are left hanging.

It's days like this that make me wonder does anybody give a damn or even care that our humanity as transpeople is under attack? Did y'all forget this and the fact that transpeople around the world are being brutally murdered in extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions and other killings when the UN General Assembly had this vote?

Now, Therefore THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Do justice and human rights apply to trans people as well? Because the 'all peoples of all nations' part of the UN Declaration of Human Rights we submit includes trans people as well.

Oh well, maybe in 2012 we transpeople will qualify for inclusion in this UN resolution

Hate Crimes: The Rise of 'Corrective' Rape in South Africa

“Violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families, and on society as a whole.
Most societies prohibit such violence — yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned.” Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General.
“They tell me that they will kill me, they will rape me and after raping me I will become a girl. I will become a straight girl.”
Zakhe, 23, Soweto.

Violence crosses boundaries of class, race, age and sexual orientation. It causes injury and death, but also prevents women and girls from getting an education, accessing health care, earning a living, to participating in their communities and wider society.
In South Africa, no woman is safe from violence. There are an estimated 500,000 rapes, hundreds of murders and countless beatings carried out every year. Shockingly, it is estimated that almost half of all South African women will be raped during their lifetime.2 And for every 25 men bought to trial for rape in South Africa, 24 walk free.3
This shameful record of male domination and violence has helped build an increasingly brutal and oppressive culture, in which women are forced to conform to gender stereotypes or suffer the consequences.
As part of this oppression, the country is now witnessing a backlash of crimes targeted specifically at lesbian women, who are perceived as representing a direct and specific threat to the status quo. This violence often takes the form of ‘corrective’ rape – a way of punishing and ‘curing’ women of their sexual orientation.
In early 2009 ActionAid carried out interviews with 15 survivors of these crimes and the organisations that work with them. They told us their own stories, and many more of friends who had died.
It is their words that form the basis of this report.
“At school I was betrayed by my best friend. He told me to come to his house for a school assignment but when I got to the house we fought until he hit me so hard I collapsed, and then he raped me because he said I needed to stop being a lesbian. Afterwards I got pregnant and had a baby. The second time my soccer friends and I were kidnapped at gunpoint and they took us somewhere far away and did what
they wanted with us for three days. We told the police but the case just disappeared. Nothing happened because they all thought I deserved it. These men are still walking free.”
Nomawabo, 30, Limpopo, South Africa.

Sexual orientation and human rights

Human rights violations targeted at people because of their sexual orientation are a global phenomenon. They include sexual assault, rape, torture and murder, as well as denial of employment, education and other basic rights.
Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people is underpinned by heteronormativity. This is the idea, dominant in most societies, that heterosexuality is the only ‘normal’ sexual orientation, only sexual or marital relations between women and men are acceptable, and each sex has certain natural roles in life, so-called gender roles. In many places, women and men who transcend these norms or challenge these roles face discrimination and violence.

In 86 UN member states, homosexuality is illegal and in seven countries it is punishable by death.4 South Africa is one of the only countries in the world that explicitly prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in its constitution, but many other countries guarantee the rights of LGBT people through law. However, as this report shows, for LGBT people to enjoy their rights, it is critical that they are promoted, protected and fulfilled by the state.
In December 2008, the UN issued a declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity. Sixty-six countries have signed the declaration, including six countries in Africa. The United States, India and South Africa are among the countries that have not yet signed.

Hate Crimes: The Rise of 'Corrective' Rape in South Africa