NJ GOP Rep. Chris Smith Works To Block LGBT Rights Group At United Nations

The International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) has long been attempting to gain recognition as a consulting group with the United Nations, a status which would grant them access and the ability to comment officially on critical LGBT issues such as the murder and imprisonment of LGBT people around the world. In June, IGLHRC's recognition was blocked by Egypt "on behalf of all African nations."

After the U.S. delegation promised to pressure the UN on IGLHRC's behalf, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) vowed to stop them. Smith, who voted against the Matthew Shepard Act and other LGBT rights laws, says IGLHRC plans to muzzle anybody who preaches that homosexuality is immoral. He wrote the UN a lengthy letter demanding that they again decline IGLHRC's application.

Backing up Rep. Smith is the Christianist outfit Family Watch International, who has launched a petition campaign to the United Nations.

The IGLHRC is already pressuring a number of UN member states to change their laws to advance sexual rights. When the application was put on hold, the U.S. reacted very aggressively and announced that it was planning to take an unprecedented move to bypass the UN Committee on NGOs and go directly to the full ECOSOC body to try to ram the approval through. This has never been done before, and it has caused quite a stir among the UN delegations of many of the developing nations around the world. So we have a situation where the Obama administration is again putting support for the radical homosexual agenda above virtually all other considerations. In light of what this administration is doing domestically, we should not be surprised, but in this case, the United States government’s almost obsessive quest to advance sexual rights has been exposed to the whole world, and this should concern every American.

Once again, the American Christianist right is actively working to enable the murder, abuse, and imprisonment of LGBT people outside the United States.

VIDEO: Below is a history of the work IGLHRC has done for the last 20 years.