Illinois Representative Mike Quigley is the second politician to publicly condemn the United Nations president's anti-gay remarks.

The 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened Friday with a press conference by its new president, Ali Abdussalam Treki, a Libyan diplomat.

When asked about a UN resolution that calls for the universal decriminalization of being gay, Treki called the matter “very sensitive.”

“[T]hat matter is very sensitive, very touchy,” Treki said. “As a Muslim, I am not in favor of it … it is not accepted by the majority of countries. My opinion is not in favor of this matter at all. I think it's not really acceptable by our religion, our tradition”

“It is not acceptable in the majority of the world. And there are some countries that allow that, thinking it is a kind of democracy … I think it is not,” he added.

The resolution, sponsored by France and the Netherlands, met with strong resistance from a group of Arab leaders who challenged it with a statement condemning being gay. The Arab-backed statement decried the decriminalization of being gay because it might lead to “the social normalization, and possibly the legitimization, of many deplorable acts including pedophilia.” Vatican officials also balked at the pro-gay resolution, saying it would promote gay marriage.

Congressman Quigley, a Democrat and longtime ally to the gay and lesbian community, responded on Thursday.

“I respect that there is a healthy diversity of viewpoints across our country and around the world, but to preserve that very freedom of expression, human rights need to be our common denominator,” Quigley told On Top Magazine in an email.

“With regard to the gentleman's remarks, what's 'not acceptable' is drawing geographic borders around equality,” he added.

Quigley, who won a special election in April to fill the seat vacated by Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, joined Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in criticizing the president's remarks.

In a statement released Tuesday, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen said: “The anti-gay bigotry spewed by this Qaddafi shill demonstrates once again that the UN has been hijacked by advocates of hate and intolerance. Likewise, the leadership of the UN Development Program is held by the Iranian regime, which denies the presence of gays in Iran even as it murders them and other innocent citizens.”

“Congress must demand better by enacting pending legislation that would leverage our contributions to the UN to produce sweeping, meaningful reform in that body,” she added.