Research Report
Forum: The Third General Assembly
Issue : Integration of LGBTQ rights in Society
Chairs: Raoul Jutstra and Tom Oude Veldhuis
Table of Contents
Research Report 1
Personal Introduction 3
The Third General Assembly 4
Issue: ‘Integration of LGBTQ rights in Society’ 5
Timeline of related events 7
Key terms 8
Sources 9
Personal Introduction
Dear delegates of GA3,
I'll start of with an introduction. My name is Raoul Jutstra, and I'm 16 years old right now. By the time of the conference I've turned 17. When I started off with my first MUN I was 14 years old and within these 3 years I didn't ever regret the decision of joining the MUN family. That is for several reasons. Of course there is the fact that MUN is very educational. Within my 3 years of experience I've improved my English with great steps, but I also learned something which I find even more important: the art of public speaking.
Even though the educational part is very nice and all, it always came on a second place for me. The most important reason that I'm part of the MUN family, is the MUN family itself. Since I started MUN I've met a lot of people. Some of them now are my best friends. This is the real beauty of MUN and I really hope you all will experience that the same way! Tom and I are really looking forward to being chair of all you guys.
Sincerely,
Raoul Jutstra.
Greetings everyone,
I am Tom Oude Veldhuis and I am 16 years old. I’m from the Vechtdal College Hardenberg and I am in my one but last year of VWO. I have been doing MUN’s since 2012 and I have attended to quite a few, including a few in Germany. This year will be my second time chairing here at FirstMUN 2015. I will be the chair of the 3rd General Assembly and I will also be the Deputy President of the General Assembly this year.
I am looking forward to the upcoming conference since FirstMUN was also my first MUN I was ever attending to. I will help the new delegates (you) explore the unknown world of MUN and will help you understand everything step by step.
See you at FirstMUN!
Tom Oude Veldhuis
The Third General Assembly
The Third Committee of the General Assembly at its seventieth session, is chaired by H.E. Mr. Omar Hilale of Morocco.
The General Assembly allocates to the Third Committee, agenda items relating to a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues that affect people all over the world.
As in previous sessions, an important part of the work of the Committee will focus on the examination of human rights questions, including reports of the special procedures of the Human Rights Council which was established in 2006. In October 2015, the Committee will hear and interact with 54 such special rapporteurs, independent experts, and chairs of working groups as mandated by the Human Rights Council.
The Committee also discusses questions relating to the advancement of women, the protection of children, indigenous issues, the treatment of refugees, the promotion of fundamental freedoms through the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and the right to self- determination. The Committee also addresses important social development questions such as issues related to youth, family, ageing, persons with disabilities, crime prevention, criminal justice, and international drug control.
At the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly, the Third Committee considered over 60 draft resolutions, more than half of which were submitted under the human rights agenda item alone. These included three so-called country-specific resolutions on human rights situations.
The Third Committee is expected to consider a similar number of draft resolutions during the present session of the General Assembly.
Issue: ‘Integration of LGBTQ rights in Society’
The issue about LGBTQ rights are about the rights of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexuals, transgender and questioning. The rights and laws about the LGBTQ community vary greatly per country. The Amnesty International and civil rights consider LGBTQ rights human rights by some. LGBTQ rights laws include, but are not limited to, the following:
– Allowing of men who have sex with men to donate blood
– Government recognition of same-sex relationships (such as via same-sex marriage or similar unions)
– Allowing of LGBT adoption
– Recognition of LGBT parenting
– Anti-bullying legislation and student non-discrimination laws to protect LGBT children and/or students
– Immigration equality laws
– Anti-discrimination laws for employment and housing
– Hate crime laws providing enhanced criminal penalties for prejudice-motivated violence against LGBT people
– Equal age of consent laws
– Equal access to assisted reproductive technology
– Access to sex reassignment surgery and hormone replacement therapy
– Legal recognition and accommodation of reassigned gender
– Laws related to sexual orientation and military service
Within the UN there has been a declaration of LGBTQ rights. The image below gives a good overview of who singed it and who didn’t.
Green: support
Red: oppose
Grey: neither supports nor is oppose
Within the green countries the LGBTQ community now has most of (if not all) the earlier named rights. Though this is a great step forward, in the red countries you can still go to jail or even be sentenced to death when in a homosexual relationship. The following image gives a good overview regarding LGBTQ legislation.
Major organizations/countries
Amnesty International
Amnesty is a non-governmental organisation (or NGO) fighting for the human and civil rights all over the world. They’re trying to abolish the death penalty, because it’s inhumane. The rights of LGBTQ are also a very important point on their agenda. In the struggle for these rights Amnesty International started a fund. The name of this fund is Pride Fund. With the money that is donated to this fund they are protecting activists with means such as: security and legal action
Russian Federation
The Russian Federation has been in the news many times regarding the rights of LGBTQ. The law in Russia restricts being in a homosexual relationship. It is not possible to marry or adopt children. There is no legal protection of the LGBTQ rights. And a recent poll shows that a majority of the population wants to go back to having discriminating laws against LGBTQ.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)
is an international organization bringing together more than 750 LGBTQ and intersex groups from around the world. It continues to be active in campaigning for LGBTQ rights and intersex rights on the international human rights and civil rights scene, and regularly petitions the United Nations and governments. ILGA is represented in 110+ countries across the world. ILGA is accredited by the United Nations and has been granted NGO Ecosoc consultative status.
Timeline of related events
A list of countries and the year that LGBTQ marriage was legalized:
The Netherlands – 2001 (first country in the world)
France – 2013
April 2013
Riot in France capital city regarding LGBTQ marriage
Parts of the United Kingdom – 2014
United State of America – 2015
In Germany LGBTQ marriage is not approved. It is however possible to be in other forms of partnership. In 2013 a poll showed that 74% of the population was in favor of LGBTQ marriage yet it still isn’t approved
Key terms
P5 country
The P5 countries are: Russia, China, France, United Kingdom and United States. These five countries have more power and sometimes a bigger say in solutions because in the security counsel they have a veto right. It is important to keep that in mind even though this MUN doesn’t have a security counsel
NGO (non-governmental organization)
An NGO is an organization not bound to a government. This gives them the ability to act independent. Examples of important NGO’s for the issue of LGBTQ rights are Amnesty International and ILGA.
LGBTQ
LGBTQ is an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning. This is the formal term. Lesbian: A woman who is attracted to other women.
Gay: A man who is attracted to other men.
Bisexual: An individual who is attracted to both genders.
Trans: An umbrella term that seeks to incorporate individuals whose gender identities do not match their biological sex, for example, somebody who is born male-bodied and identifies as a woman. The term ‘Trans’ includes those who are pre or post-surgery and those who do not wish to undertake surgery to alter their sex.
A distinction is poised between sex (male/female) which is a biological given at birth, and gender (man/woman) which is a sociological and psychological construction concerned with characteristics that are not biological.
Queer: Individuals who experience fluidity in their experience of sexuality or gender and therefore do not identify strictly as LGB or T. The term ‘Queer’ can also include those who do not identify as either gender.
Sources
http://ilga.org/
http://www.amnesty.nl/pridefonds?code=756IN016&gclid=COnt_oD__sgCFUS4Gwod49YOnQ
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html
http://www.nu.nl/buitenland/3405055/rellen-in-parijs-vanwege-homohuwelijk.html
http://www.liberateyourself.co.uk/lgbtq/what-is-lgbtq/
http://www.politicalresearch.org/tag/lgbtq-rights/