- June 30, 2014
On Thursday the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted the “Protection of the Family” resolution, a resolution requiring the Council to host a panel and produce a report on protecting families. Because the definition of “family” in the resolution is narrow and excludes many families, like those led by single parents, grandparents, or LGBT parents, advocates fear the resulting panel and report will be used to further marginalize diverse family structures. A panel discussion on the report is expected in September.
Egypt pushed for the legislation and its current language. Co-sponsors included Russia, Uganda and Qatar, which have all opposed moves at the UN to support the human rights of LGBT people. The resolution was adopted by a 22-20 majority.
Chile, Uruguay, Ireland and France supported an amendment to the resolution designed to acknowledge family diversity, but the motion was denied after Russia utilized a procedural maneuver that prevented discussion of the issue.
Only days before the vote on the resolution, HRC joined a letter of 507 advocacy organizations from 116 countries calling on the UN Human Rights Council to give systematic attention to human rights violations based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and intersex status.