Maravi

(HERALD, XINHUA) UN chief’s gay speech torches storm

COMMENT - There is something very uncool about foreigners flying in and declaring the protection of one type of rights as the key to actual human and civil rights. Remember that through the criminal code, homosexuality is illegal in former British colonies to begin with, because upto 1981 (Northern Ireland) it was illegal in Britain itself. I have no problem with the anti-discrimination clause of the respective constitutions changing 'sex' to 'sexual orientation', however, making a big show of it feels like a colonial imposition of 'norms and values' and frankly emphasises the foreign nature of this imposition. Besides, I think that UNAIDS is a criminal organisation, and it's management should be prosecuted for fraud. That should be the Secretary General's priority.

UN chief’s gay speech torches storm
Wednesday, 29 February 2012 00:00

LUSAKA — UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon may have flown out of Zambia after a two-day official visit, but he has left raging controversy over his call for the southern African nation to respect and uphold gay rights.

The UN chief has touched a thorny issue in this conservative southern African nation that has left people wondering why he should come all the way to advocate homosexuality. Social network sites such as Facebook are awash with debate on Ban’s statement.

“A diplomat comes to a very peaceful country which is facing poverty, cholera, typhoid, unemployment and forgets all that and focuses on sexual orientation,” Stephen Mudoma, a Zambian journalist, wrote on his Facebook page.
Most Zambians did not take kindly to the UN chief’s speech.

During his address to parliament, Ban said, “Now you have embarked on a transformation agenda, a process for a people-driven constitution that will be a foundation for Zambia’s progress, a constitution that will stand the test of time.
“This offers Zambia an opportunity to lead once more by enshrining the highest standards of human rights and protection for all people regardless of race, religion, gender, sex orientation or disability.”

The Zambia Rainbow Coalition, a local non-governmental organisation, has since asked Ban to apologise for trying to knit into the country’s moral fibre, vices that are offensive.

The organisation has described the secretary-general’s move to promote homosexuality in Zambia as an act of trying to force foreign “cultures in exchange for aid” and noted that this is a new form of colonialism.

“It is with utter displeasure that we the Zambia Rainbow Coalition note that the historic visit of the UN secretary-general was to be an ambassador of colonialism and not development.

“We would like to categorically state that in Zambia we have our own morals and culture and we believe that homosexuality is not part of our culture,” the organisation’s programme director Malekano Mwanza said in a statement.

Homosexuality, he said, is like all other mental diseases which need to be treated through an array of rehabilitative approaches. — Xinhua.

Labels: BAN KI-MOON, HOMOSEXUALITY, UN

posted by MrK @ 7:04 PM