The U.S. voted against a U.N. Human Rights Council policy that would ban the death penalty for homosexuality.
According to New Now Next, the measure thankfully still passed, as 27 countries voted in favor of it. Belgium, Benin, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, and Switzerland, all countries that prioritize queer rights, proposed the measure to stop the murder of LGBTQ people in other countries.
“This is a monumental moment where the international community has publicly highlighted that these horrific laws simply must end,” Renato Sabbadini, director of The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), was quoted as saying, according to New Now Next. “It is unconscionable to think that there are hundreds of millions of people living in states where somebody may be executed simply because of whom they love.”
While this won’t completely stop the death penalty in countries that order it for certain crimes, it is in place to make sure that the death penalty isn’t used in a discriminatory fashion, and that it is not used purely to punish homosexuality.
In addition to the U.S., Bangladesh, Botswana, Burundi, China, Japan, Qatar, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia all voted against the ban.
