/* Written  9:20 pm  Jun 20, 1993 by nwarner@gn.apc.org in igc:gen.gaylesbian */
/* ---------- "UN WORLD CONF ON HUMAN RIGHTS" ---------- */

PRESS RELEASE BY THE INTERNATIONAL LESBIAN AND GAY ASSOCIATION


LESBIANS AND GAY MEN GET RECOGNITION AT UN CONFERENCE IN VIENNA

    ILGA TO ADDRESS THE UN WORLD CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS


        Three governments have supported lesbian and gay rights
in public sessions of the UN World Conference on Human Rights
underway in Vienna, Austria. Dr. Kooijmans, the Foreign Minister
of the Netherlands, on June 14th, speaking in a plenary session,
described discrimination as one of the "central evils" of our
time, specifically condemning "discrmination on the basis of
sexual orientation....".

Canadian Member of Parliament Dorothy Dobbie, speaking in a
plenary session on 16th June for External Affairs Minister
Barbara McDougall, said it was unacceptable to deny rights to
persons "because of sexual orientation or HIV infection...."

The Austrian Federal Minister of Women's Affairs, Johanna Dohnal,
on June 18th, gave a speech on women's issues in the Main
Committee of the Conference. She specifically condemned
discrimination against women on the basis of "sexual preference".

A representative of the Netherlands made an additional statement
in the Main Committee on June 18th, referring to "the persecution
and discrimination of gays and lesbians". She continued that the
plight of lesbians and gays "has not been adequately identified
as a problem, therefore no solutions have been formulated. Lack
of identification is indeed a potent obstacle to realization of
the human rights of these groups".

On Saturday, June 19th, in the committee drafting the final
statement of the Conference, Canada moved to include "sexual
orientation" in the general paragraph dealing with equality.
Canadian lesbian and gay activists, attending the Conference, had
pressed the Canadian delegation on Friday to move the amendment.
They were supported by Svend Robinson, the openly gay member of
the Canadian Parliament who is part of the Canadian government
delegation.

After a brief debate, the drafting committee adopted new language
which called for human rights to be respected "without
distinction of any kind..." The list of specific grounds, such as
race and sex, was deleted in favour of "open-ended" wording.
Canadian Law Professor Douglas Sanders, representing the
International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA), called the new
wording "a clear victory", though lesbians and gay men had sought
a specific reference to "sexual orientation".

Three lesbian and gay groups have been accredited to the
Conference. They are the ILGA, based in Belgium, the Australian
Council for Lesbian and Gay Rights, and EGALE based in Ottowa,
Canada. The World Conference is the first UN meeting of any kind
to which lesbian and gay organisations have been officially
accredited.

The three groups participated in the Forum of Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) held in advance of the World Conference.
Individual members raised lesbian and gay concerns in forum
working groups. The final report of the NGO Forum, presented to
the World Conference on June 14th, included a call to end
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Relations with other NGO's have been excellent. An ILGA article
appeared in the daily NGO newspaper on June 14th. ILGA held two
official "parallel" activities, listed in the program of official
NGO parallel activities. ILGA held a briefing in the Austria
Centre, the conference site, on the morning of June 16th, and a
panel discussion in the evening in a hall in the city. An ILGA
document was approved by the UN Secretariat for distribution to
all government delegations.

ILGA WILL ADDRESS A PLENARY SESSION OF THE UN WORLD CONFERENCE ON
HUMAN RIGHTS during the second and final week. ILGA has been
allocated the time by a caucus of international non-governmental
organizations, demonstrating the wide support among NGO's at the
conference for lesbian and gay rights. As well, lesbians and gays
representing the three organisations accredited to the World
Conference will be addressing sessions of the Main Committee
during the last week of the Conference.

Contact in Vienna: Kurt Krickler; telephone fax: (43) (1)
545-1310


THE ILGA is the world's principal international organisation
campaigning for lesbian and gay rights. It has some 300 member
organisations in 50 countries. It works through the following
means: Information exchange, by means of its Bulletin (published
five time per year) and its world and regional conferences;
protest actions (co-ordinated by the ILGA Action Secretariat,
IGLHRC); and campaigning for lesbian and gay rights in
international forums such as the UN, the WHO, the EC, the Council
of Europe, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe,
etc.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ILGA'S WORK! Membership is open to
organisations ($165) and individuals ($100). Application forms
can be obtained from: the ILGA Financial Secretariat, 141
Cloudesley Road, London N1 OEN, UK. Donations would be most
welcome, and can be sent to the same address.