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United Nations tackles LGBT discrimination
United Nations committee focuses on gay children
CRC call on UK to fight intolerance of LGBT teens
"LGBT children continue to experience discrimination and social stigmatisation "
The UK must take urgent measures against intolerance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual children, says the United Nations.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which is one of the seven human rights treaty bodies of the United Nations, met in September.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children, and 193 countries are party to its contents. Compliance is monitored by the committee, and countries are required to submit regular reports on its implementation.
Following the UK submission, the independent experts of the committee mentioned LGBT children in their concluding observations for what is thought to be the first time.
The committee praised the new Equality Bill, which it said provided "clear opportunities to mainstream children’s right to non-discrimination into the UK anti-discrimination law." However it also noted that LGBT children "continue to experience discrimination and social stigmatisation."
The statement continued:
"The committee is also concerned at the general climate of intolerance and negative public attitudes towards children, especially adolescents, which appears to exist, including in the media, and may be often the underlying cause of further infringements of their rights."
Recommendations urged the UK government to focus on the inappropriate characterisation of children, to strengthen its awareness-raising and other preventative activities against discrimination and to "take all necessary measures to ensure that cases of discrimination against children in all sectors of society are addressed effectively."
The issue of LGBT rights continues to be contentious within the United Nations, with Zambia, Egypt and Pakistan rejecting calls to decriminalise homosexuality.
