New Libya leadership lashes out at gays

THE DELEGATE of the new National Transitional Council (NTC) government of Libya has shocked human rights champions by telling the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that gays threaten the continuation of the human race.

It was the first appearance in the council of the NTC, which ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi last year, since Libya was suspended last March at the height of the civil war in Libya. Western governments led the charge to have Libya reinstated on the council after the NTC toppled Gaddafi late last year.

But they were evidently embarrassed by the result of their efforts yesterday.

Protesting at the council’s first panel discussion on discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation, Libya’s unnamed representative told the gathering of ambassadors that LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual) topics “affect religion and the continuation and reproduction of the human race”.

According to the NGO UN Watch, the delegate added that, were it not for its suspension, Libya would have opposed the council’s June 2011 resolution on the topic.

Council president Laura Dupuy Lasserre said that “the Human Rights Council is here to defend human rights and prevent discrimination”.

The Libyan outburst prompted questions by human rights activists about Libya’s reinstatement on the council.

“We were happy to see the Gaddafi regime finally suspended last year,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, “but this is not the Arab Spring we hoped for.

“Today’s homophobic outburst by the new Libyan government, together with the routine abuse of prisoners, underscores the serious questions we have about the new regime’s commitment to improving on the dark record of its predecessor, and about its pandering to Islamists in its ranks.

“Gays are now paying the price, with their right to be free from violent attacks now being undermined at the UN by a country that democratic countries fought to liberate,” he said.