The U.S. and Iran Show Their True Colors—And They're Not a Rainbow
by John Taraborelli
[Note: This article first appeared in The Agenda #15]
As tensions mount over Iran's nuclear ambitions and Sudan's President
Bashir is denied his seat at the African Union's rotating presidency due to his
regime's perceived complicity in the genocide in Darfur, it is reassuring to to
see a brief moment of unity in increasingly unstable international relations.
On January 26, the
New York Times
reported on a vote in the United Nations that demonstrated rare solidarity
between the United States, Iran, Sudan,
Zimbabwe and Cuba. Perhaps
this is a sign that all hope is not lost for peace and cooperation between
these disparate and often contentious nations.
The vote on Monday, January 23 was to decide whether consultative status
to the U.N. Economic and Social Council would be granted to two gay rights
groups. Nearly 3000 nongovernmental organizations are afforded this status,
which allows them to distribute documents at council meetings.
Iran moved to deny this status to the Danish National Association for Gays
and Lesbians, and the Belgium-based International Lesbian and Gay Association.
The United States, along with the three other nations mentioned above,
supported Iran's recommendation in a rare example of unity between the world's
foremost proponent of freedom and democracy, a fundamentalist Islamist
theocracy, a war-ravaged nation currently standing idle before the worst human
rights catastrophe on the planet, and two countries the U.S. State Department
has criticized for their repressive treatment of homosexuals.
Mark Lagon, a State Department official, made it clear that the decision
was not based on opposition to gay rights, but "the controversial history of
the International Lesbian and Gay Association-an affiliate of the North
American Man/Boy Love Association." NAMBLA, which openly condones pedophilia,
was publicly expelled by the group more than a decade ago. There was apparently
no official State Department line on whether the Danish group advocates sex
with little boys, but better safe than sorry.
This all-too-rare harmony between states whose relations are often
tenuous at best gives hope for the future. Many large problems loom on the
horizon of international affairs, but this vote proves that even nations at
odds with each other can, through dialog and mutual support, allow reason to
prevail. These five states, despite their geographic, political, and economic
disparities, have managed to weave together the common moral threads that bind
us all-in this case, single-minded intolerance, antiquated social mores, and
blinding hatred of minorities. If such a minor decision as this can bring the
Untied States, Iran, Cuba, Sudan and Zimbabwe into concert, imagine what
the future holds for weightier issues like terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
Find out More:
United Nations
Economic and Social Council
International Lesbian and Gay
Association
A letter to
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice from the International Gay and Lesbian Human
Rights Commission
