US votes with Saudi Arabia on death penalty for gays

Splitting hairs? This has been equated with voting for the death penalty for gays which it is not exactly

US Votes Against UN Resolution Condemning Death Penalty For Same-Sex Relations

Sputnik,

3 October, 2017

Five days ago the US joined 12 other countries in voting against a UN resolution that condemns the usage of the death penalty for apostasy, blasphemy, adultery and consensual same-sex relations.

Though the vote did pass September 29 with the help of 27 nations voting in favor — although seven others abstained — the Land of the Free joined Botswana, Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, China, India, Iraq, Japan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in their nay vote.

Shocked and upset by the US' stance, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) issued their own statement Tuesday condemning the Trump administration and Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN.

"Ambassador Haley has failed the LGBTQ community by not standing up against the barbaric use of the death penalty to punish individuals in same-sex relationships," wrote Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global. "While the UN Human Rights Council took this crucially important step, the Trump/Pence administration failed to show leadership on the world stage by not championing this critical measure."

"This administration's blatant disregard for human rights and LGBTQ lives around the world is beyond disgraceful," Cobb concluded.

Among the critics also stood a familiar representative — Susan Rice, former national security adviser for the Obama administration and former US ambassador to the UN.

"Shame on the US!" Rice tweeted Tuesday. "I was proud to lead US efforts at the UN to protect LGBTQ people, back in the day when American stood for human rights for all."

Responding to the concerns, Heather Nauert, the spokesperson for the US State Department, announced Tuesday that the US was not against the LGBTQ community, but rather did not agree with language in the resolution urging the abolition of the death penalty.

​"We voted against that resolution because of broader concerns with the resolution's approach in condemning the death penalty in all circumstances, and it called for the abolition of the death penalty altogether," Nauert said Tuesday. "The United States unequivocally condemns the application of the death penalty for conduct such as homosexuality, blasphemy, adultery and apostasy. We do not consider such conduct appropriate for criminalization."

Department of State‏Verified account @StateDept

.@statedeptspox comments on a vote related to the death penalty at the @UN #HumanRights Council in Geneva. #UNHRC

The media could not be played.

Spokesperson Nauert Comments on a Vote at the UN Human Rights Council

Spokesperson Heather Nauert addresses reporters at the Department Press Briefing on October 3, 2017. - U.S. Department of State

8:03 AM - 4 Oct 2017

The ban also specifically targeted the use of capital punishment against those with "mental or intellectual disabilities, persons below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of crime, and pregnant women," as the resolution read.