UNHRC

United Nations Human Rights Council

(Here you can find the complete guide)

Topic: Same-sex marriage

Introduction

December of the year 2000, was the month when same-sex marriage was legalized for the first time. The rights to adopt, marry and divorce, were granted to same-sex couples in The Netherlands that december. Since the legalization of same-sex marriage in The Netherlands, many countries have followed suit and most recently Costa Rica has become an addition to that list of countries having become the first Central American country to legalize same-sex marriage in 2020. As consequence many countries in which same-sex marriage has been legalized have received large amounts of backlash in form of “anti-gay” protests. The United Nations Human Rights Council assembles to discuss the enforcement or development of laws designed to protect the rights of people, and has therefore gathered in order to dispute the legalization of same-sex marriage. 

Key Terms 

Marriage - Legally recognized union at all levels. 

Civil Unions - Relationships that are provided with legal protection exclusively at state level.

Domestic Partners - Partners who share a home. 

Legislation  - Laws that are collectively considered.

Background Information

The rights of those who are members of the LGBTQ+ community have yet to equate to those who do not. A facet of those rights is the right to marry. While the right to marry someone of the same sex has developed in many countries, the right is yet to be a global development. 32 countries have passed laws favorizing the legalization of same-sex marriage, the 32nd of which is Slovenia where same-sex marriage was legalized on the 8th of July of 2022. In 2018, the European Court of Justice (EJC) which serves as the European Union’s high court, concluded that same-sex marriages should be required to be recognized. This applied to both EU and non-EU citizens and was a decision made in the name of immigration purposes. Legislation has allowed for the legalization of same-sex marriage in 22 countries. 10 countries have legalized same-sex marriage through the court and 2 countries, Taiwan and South Africa enacted legislation as a result of court mandated to do so.   

Relevant UN Reports and Resolutions

• https://www.scribd.com/document/241092505/Resolution-on-Human-Rights-Sexual-Orientation-and-Gender-Idnentity 

• https://www.ohchr.org/en/sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity/un-free-equal-global-campaign-promote-equal-rights-lgbti-people 

• https://www.unfe.org/about-2/ 

Previous Attempts at Solving the Issue 

In 2013 the UN Free and Equal Campaign first saw the world, and has since promoted the equal rights of members of the LGBTQ+ community. The primary goal of the campaign is to raise awareness in regards to the issue. Furthermore a resolution was drawn up by the General Assembly in 2014 detailing human rights and sexual orientation.  

Possible Solutions

A possible solution could see the decriminalization of same-sex relationships on a global scale, providing same-sex couples with the most basic levels of relationship rights. This would provide the opportunity for the development of legislation designed to allow and protect the marriage of same-sex couples in the same ways that ME  heterosexual couples are provided with that sort of legislation.