Published on Monday, January 30, 2006 by OneWorld.net
'Bigotry Conquers All,' Gay Rights Groups Say of U.S. Vote at UN
by Abid Aslam
WASHINGTON - The governments of the United States and Iran--part of President George W. Bush's ''axis of evil'' and his current nuclear bete noire--demonstrated rare unity of cause this past week when Washington backed a Tehran initiative to deny UN access to advocates of sexual minorities' rights.
Indian gay men carry a rainbow flag during a rare march to raise awareness about the rights of gays and other sexual minorities in the eastern city of Calcutta on June 26, 2005. The arrest of four people on charges of homosexuality and running an online gay club in northern India has triggered criticism by NGOs and the United Nations' AIDS body, UNAIDS. REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw
Critics of the move denounced it as a show of bigotry.
''This vote is an aggressive assault by the U.S. government on the right of sexual minorities to be heard,'' said Scott Long, director of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) program for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
''It is astonishing that the Bush administration would align itself with Sudan, China, Iran, and Zimbabwe in a coalition of the homophobic,'' Long said.
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