Pressure U.N. to Accredit LGBT Rights Group

The Issue

Several countries sitting on the United Nations Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations have blocked the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) from being granted “consultative status.” The status would give IGLHRC the right to attend meetings of the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), submit written statements, and participate in a variety of other U.N. functions.

The United States and Britain supported IGLHRC, however, and Reuters reports that the U.S. and Europeans will push for ECOSOC itself to accredit IGLHRC. The U.N. Economic and Social Council last July granted consultative status to a Brazilian LGBT group, and did so in 2007 and 2008 for Canadian, Swedish and Spanish groups.

Recent incidents in Malawi, Pakistan, and Uganda underscore the need to ensure human rights for LGBT people around the world. The U.S. State Department is already speaking out to protect those rights. Please urge Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice to work with ECOSOC so that IGLHRC may obtain consultative status.

Dana RudolphPetition StarterDana is the founder of Mombian, a leading blog of news and information for lesbian moms and other LGBT parents. She writes a syndicated column on LGBT parenting and also covers various other subjects for LGBT newspapers across the country. Additionally, she develops Web sites, blogs, podcasts, and other online content. Dana began her career in online business and marketing strategies during the first dotcom boom, and has worked at both the startup and corporate levels. Most recently, she was a vice president at Merrill Lynch, involved in the launch of several key online initiatives. She was also the first leader of the firm’s global LGBT employee network. Dana has a BA summa cum laude from Wellesley College and an M.Phil from Oxford University.

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