Humanists from many countries have pledged their support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered rights.
A resolution on these rights was carried at the 1999 World Congress of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) held in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India, from 10 to 14 January 1999.
The crux of the 2½-page resolution was that “The IHEU will jointly with its member organisations endorse, defend and promote gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people’s interests in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a regular element of their overall endorsement, defence and promotion of human rights”.
The resolution was drafted on behalf of the UK Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association (GALHA) by Dutch member Hans Hoekzema and proposed by a GALHA founder member, Jim Herrick, who edits IHEU’s journal International Humanist News.
In his speech to the congress delegates, Mr Herrick pointed out that although in Europe and the United States conditions for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people had much improved, this was not the case in many other parts of the world. He instanced the persecution of gays in countries like Malaysia and Zimbabwe, and said that even in the US there had been a recent case of a 21-year-old gay man being viciously murdered by a group of homophobic youths. Mr Herrick reminded his audience, which included some 400 Indians, that in India homosexuality was still criminalised – an unhappy legacy of the British colonial legal system – and that a recent Indian film in which two women kissed had been targeted by Hindu fundamentalists.
“The need to be secret about one’s sexual orientation is deeply damaging to the development of a full personality”, said Mr Herrick. The resolution he was proposing was “not just an abstract matter of rights, but about the human need for people to live their lives fully according to their nature. It is about human love and the right for all to play a part in society.”
Mr Herrick’s speech was greeted with loud applause and the resolution was carried by an overwhelming majority.
GALHA Secretary George Broadhead commented: “This is a very welcome development, coming as it does at the start of GALHA’s twentieth anniversary year. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people can be left in no doubt about the supportive position taken on their rights by the Humanist movement. What a contrast this enlightened, rational Humanist stance is to the homophobic bible-based rantings of Christian bishops at the Lambeth Conference last year, and the resulting anti-gay resolution."
Notes:
The International Humanist and Ethical Union represents millions of Humanists worldwide. It has consultative status at the United Nations (New York, Geneva and Vienna), UNICEF (New York), UNESCO (Paris) and the Council of Europe.
The full text of the IHEU resolution can be found on GALHA’s website.