US joins Iran in ban

In January this year the United States voted with Iran, Sudan and other anti-gay countries at the United Nations to deny observer status to two gay rights groups at the UN. Eric Resnick, reporting on The Raw Story website, writes that such status – which is enjoyed by over 3,000 NGOs around the world – allows access to UN proceedings and conferences, in addition to the right to propose agenda items. One of the NGOs denied observer status – the International Lesbian and Gay Association of Brussels – operates in 90 countries. The successful resolution to reject it was put forward by Iran and supported by Cameroon, China, Cuba, Pakistan, the Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, the US and Zimbabwe.

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