LGBT groups barred from UN meeting

A group of 51 Muslim countries has blocked LGBT rights organisations from attending a United Nations conference on Aids next month. Egypt, representing the Organization for Islamic Co-operation, wrote to the General Assembly president to object to the participation of 11 groups. US, EU, and Canadian officials have written to the president of the 193-member […]

A group of 51 Muslim countries has blocked LGBT rights organisations from attending a United Nations conference on Aids next month.
Egypt, representing the Organization for Islamic Co-operation, wrote to the General Assembly president to object to the participation of 11 groups.
US, EU, and Canadian officials have written to the president of the 193-member organisation in protest.
Egypt’s representatives did not give a reason for requesting the ban.
US Ambassador Samantha Power said the groups appeared to have been chosen for their involvement in gay or transgender causes.
“Given that transgender people are 49 times more likely to be living with HIV than the general population, their exclusion from the high-level meeting will only impede global progress in combating the HIV/Aids pandemic,” Mrs Power wrote to general assembly president Mogens Lykketoft.