RATHER than attempt a roundup of the year’s major events, the editors would like to highlight one event that stands out as a major milestone: the United Nations Human Rights Council’s adoption of a resolution last June 17 on violence and discrimination against GLBT people. It was the first time the UN had adopted a resolution on GLBT issues. The Council instructed the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to carry out a study by December 2011 that details “discriminatory laws and practices and acts of violence against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, in all regions of the world.” Twenty-three countries voted in favor of the resolution, nineteen voted against, and three abstained.
What follows is the introductory statement for the resolution by South African Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador J. M. Matjila.
