The secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has called for homosexuality to be decriminalised globally.
Speaking last Friday on Human Rights Day, Mr Ban said that people were “not put on this planet to live in fear of their fellow human beings” and that human rights must trump cultural attitudes.
The panel condemned violence against LGBT and the continued criminalisation of gay people in more than 70 countries worldwide.
Mr Ban said: “Where there is tension between cultural attitudes and universal human rights, universal human rights must carry the day.
“Personal disapproval, even society’s disapproval, is no excuse to arrest, detain, imprison, harass or torture anyone – ever.”
Source: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/12/14/un-secretary-general-says-culture-must-not-override-gay-rights/