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US Congresswoman describes him as a 'Qaddafi shill spewing anti-gay bigotry'
Abdussalam Treki
President of the UN General Assembly: homosexuality is 'unnacceptable'
The new president of the United Nations General Assembly, Ali Abdussalam Treki, has said that homosexuality is "not really acceptable"
He was speaking during a press conference at the opening of the 64th session of the General Assembly on Friday. Treki, a Libyan diplomat, was asked about a UN resolution calling for the universal decriminalisation of homosexuality.
"That matter is very sensitive, very touchy," he said. "As a Muslim, I am not in favour of it...it is not accepted by the majority of countries. My opinion is not in favour of this matter at all. I think it's not really acceptable by our religion, our tradition.
"It is not acceptable in the majority of the world. And there are some countries that allow that, thinking it is a kind of democracy...I think it is not."
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a statement regarding Treki's remarks. "The anti-gay bigotry spewed by this Qaddafi shill demonstrates once again that the UN has been hijacked by advocates of hate and intolerance," she said.
"Likewise, the leadership of the UN Development Program is held by the Iranian regime, which denies the presence of gays in Iran even as it murders them and other innocent citizens."
Congressman Mike Quigley, a Democrat, also condemned Treki's comments. "I respect that there is a healthy diversity of viewpoints across our country and around the world, but to preserve that very freedom of expression, human rights need to be our common denominator," he told On Top Magazine.
"With regard to the gentleman's remarks, what's 'not acceptable' is drawing geographic borders around equality."
