Prime Minister Stephenson King is being asked to ensure that St. Lucia votes to condemn violence against persons based on their sexual orientation.
The vote at the United Nations will decide whether to protect lesbians, gays, bi-sexual and transgender people in a resolution on extra-judicial executions.
The Roman Catholic Church, the AIDS Action Foundation and United and Strong, a leading human rights group, have written to the Prime Minister urging him to restore the reference to sexual orientation in the UN resolution on unlawful killings.
Head of the Aids Action Foundation, Joan Didier, said the organisations say that it doing so St. Lucia will condemn violence against persons based on their sexual orientation.
“We believe that St. Lucia will thereby be upholding the principles to protect the rights of all citizens,” she noted.
In the letter to Prime Minister King, the groups recall his statement made during this year’s national budget presentation that all St. Lucians must stand against stigma and discrimination in all its forms.
The letter calls on the Government to ensure that regardless of the perceptions of the gay, lesbian, by-sexual or trans-gender persons, it will not endorse the torture or killing of people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The letter was also copied to Foreign Affairs Minister Rufus Bousquet and St. Lucia Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Keith St. Aimee. (CMC)
