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November 11, 2016 (C-Fam) – The UN General Assembly is preparing the battlefield for the most important vote on the homosexual agenda it has ever faced.

The African Group tabled a resolution last week challenging the legality of a narrow decision of the Human Rights Council in June to establish the first-ever UN bureaucratic post on LGBT issues.

The 54 nation-strong Group said it was “disturbed” by the incessant focus on “sexual interests and behaviors” and asked that these notions not be linked to binding human rights law.

“The African Group is strongly concerned by the attempts to introduce and impose new notions and concepts that are not internationally agreed upon,” Botswana’s ambassador said, presenting the position of the African Group last Friday.

He asked for the “suspension” of the UN post until further consultations on the legal basis of the mandate take place.

Delegations did not waste time in laying out their positions.

Countries backing the homosexual agenda scrambled to counter the Africans, revealing the high priority Western nations afford the new post, ostensibly aimed at reducing violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

A US diplomat said they were “deeply concerned” by the African proposal to re-open negotiations on the resolution of the Human Rights Council because it would “set a very dangerous precedent.” She suggested the Africans were claiming the absence of a legal basis for the mandate as a pretext to block the mandate.

The United Kingdom said the proposal would “undermine” the Human Rights Council. Earlier this week the UK’s deputy foreign secretary, Alan Duncan, said his country would fight to save the independent expert.

Costa Rica said the African position would undermine the entire UN human rights system. Brazil called for respect for the “integrity” of the decisions of the Human Rights Council.

Chile called the African draft “inappropriate” and said it would “open a dangerous floodgate to weakening protections for any category of human being.”

Brazil said a dedicated mechanism for LGBT rights was necessary in light of the “scale” of LGBT violence and discrimination.

On the other side, Egypt suggested that the UN system has been giving prominence to LGBT rights over established and respected human rights obligations.

Indonesia, China, and India were among the nations that voiced support for taking an approach to human rights that is respectful of culture, religion and tradition, signaling that they are likely to support the African Group.

This is Obama’s final chance to leave a lasting legacy for LGBT rights at the United Nations. Messages from the State Department to delegates and capitals are making the case for leaving the independent expert alone.

A UN General Assembly committee vote on the African resolution is expected before Thanksgiving and again in December in the General Assembly Plenary. A hostile amendment to the resolution has been tabled and has the sponsorship of more than 50 countries.

Seventy-six countries throughout the world prohibit sodomy. If all of them voted in favor of the resolution it would virtually ensure its passage. In recent times, however, U.S. diplomats have boasted that they are able to twist the arms of such countries to make them abstain in controversial votes or even vote against their own laws on sexual relations.

Reprinted with permssion from C-Fam.