United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has opposed any discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.
Responding to queries on the Supreme Court order pronouncing gay sex as illegal, “the Secretary-General re-affirmed that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and stressed need to recommit ourselves to building a world of freedom and equality for all,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson Martin Nesirky told PTI.
In a message on the occasion of Human Rights Day, observed on December 10, Mr. Ban said the U.N. denounces all attacks on LGBT or intersex people. He said the political will of member-states was key to ensuring equal rights. “It is the states, in the first instance, that are obliged to protect human rights and prevent violations at a national level, and to stand up when other states fail to live up to their commitments.”
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The American Jewish World Service (AJWS), a Jewish international human rights and development organisation, expressed deep disappointment with the decision of the Supreme Court to overturn a 2009 Delhi High Court ruling. “It is miscarriage of justice,” programme officer Javid Syed said. “The important social acceptance that activists have won over the last four years would not be erased by the latest ruling,” he said.
“A personal choice” Back home, S.Y. Quraishi, member of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority and former Chief Election Commissioner said sex was a personal choice and should not be criminalised if consensual. At a meeting here, Mr. Quraishi said the Election Commission had enumerated people with different sexual orientations as ‘others’ at a time there was a huge debate on their gender. “This definition was subsequently adopted by other Ministries also.”