Russia fails to squelch gay equality in the UN

[Behind the Aegis]

Russia fails in bid to stop U.N. staff benefits for all gay couples

(Reuters) - Russia failed on Tuesday in a bid to stop the United Nations extending staff benefits to all same-sex couples after a U.N. General Assembly budget committee voted 80 to 43 against the proposal.

There were 37 abstentions and 33 countries did not vote.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in July that the United Nations would recognize all same-sex marriages of its staff, allowing them to receive U.N. benefits.

Previously, staff members' personal status was determined by the laws of their country of nationality. But the United Nations now recognizes all same-sex couples married in a country where it is legal, regardless of their nationality.

Russia wanted the 193-member General Assembly Fifth Committee, which deals with the U.N. budget, to overturn Ban's decision and had been threatening to put the measure to a vote since December.

"We must speak plainly about what Russia tried to do today: diminish the authority of the U.N. Secretary-General and export to the U.N. its domestic hostility to LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) rights," the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, said in a statement after the vote.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/24/us-un-gaymarriage-russia-idUSKBN0MK1UW20150324

VOTED FOR THE RUSSIAN RESOLUTION:

Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Botswana, Brunei, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, China, Comoros, North Korea, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Gambia, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe voted for the Russian proposal.

https://www.washingtonblade.com/2015/03/24/bid-to-block-spousal-benefits-for-gay-u-n-employees-fails/

Voting Record on L.9

Published by UN Tribune

Draft resolution sponsored by Russia that would have revoked benefits for same-sex married UN staff