The United States voted not to condemn using the death penalty on gay people

In a time where the news is often influenced by big donors, negativity, and propaganda in the form of false neutrality, we have to be responsible for educating ourselves and making sure that we get our information from trustworthy sources. If we don’t take accountability for our own education, we miss big news stories. For example, this week, the United States joined twelve other countries in voting against a resolution put forward by the United Nations to condemn using the death penalty on gay people.

Joining China, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, the United States voted against the resolution from the Human Rights Council that condemned the “imposition of the death penalty as a sanction for specific forms of conduct, such as apostasy, blasphemy, adultery, and consensual same-sex relations” and also criticised execution against persons who have “mental or intellectual disabilities, persons below 18 years of age when of the commission of the crime, and pregnant women”.

Thankfully, the amendment, which doesn’t ban the use of the death penalty, only condemns it, passed with twenty-seven countries voting in favour. The United States also supported two more failed amendments put forward by Russia, which said that the death penalty is not “a human rights violation” and not innately a form of torment, though it can become such a thing “in some cases”. Afghanistan, Brunei, Mauritania, Sudan, some states in Northern Nigeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, several southern states in Somalia, Iran, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant use the death penalty on gay people for being gay.

The eight countries that put the amendment forward have all made LGBT+ rights a priority. Belgium, Benin, Costs Rica, France, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, and Switzerland, have all made a point to support the community. The Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Costa Rican Vice President Ana Helena Chacón joined other world leaders at a United Nations LGBT+ Core Group meeting earlier this month. According to the ILGA, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association, there are six countries where consensual gay sex can be punished by the death penalty and another five where it is the capital punishment but is not usually invoked in cases where it is technically permitted.

The United Nations expressed unease to a further extent about the way the death penalty punishes those under the age of 18 at the time of the crime and those with mental or intellectual disabilities. Adding that they felt “serious concern that the application of the death penalty for adultery is disproportionately imposed on women”.

Despite this, the United States was able to vote against this in seemingly good conscience with seemingly minimal press coverage. Are these votes really how we want to be represented to the rest of the world? Do these votes represent the majority thought process of our country at all?

Gaby Faulkner is a first generation immigrant, photographer, activist, and proud founder of Nevertheless, We Persist.

#politics #lgbt #theunitedstates