The Vatican has condemned a United
Nations Human Rights Council gay rights resolution sponsored by 85
countries including the United States.
The resolution expresses “concern at
continued evidence in every region of acts of violence and related
human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender
identity” and calls on counties “to take steps to end acts of
violence, criminal sanctions and related human rights violations
committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation or
gender identity.”
Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, the
Vatican's representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva,
told
diplomats that people who oppose gay rights are at risk of losing
their human rights.
“People are being attacked for taking
positions that do not support sexual behavior between people of the
same sex,” Tomasi said in a statement released Tuesday.
“When they express their moral
beliefs or beliefs about human nature, which may also be expressions
of religious convictions, or state opinions about scientific claims,
they are stigmatized, and worse – they are vilified, and
prosecuted.”
“The truth is, these attacks are
violations of fundamental human rights, and cannot be justified under
any circumstances,” he added.
Tomasi also likened being gay to
pedophilia and incest.
“States can, and must, regulate
behaviours, including various sexual behaviours,” he said.
“Throughout the world, there is a consensus between societies that
certain kinds of sexual behaviours must be forbidden by law.
Pedophilia and incest are two examples.”
The Vatican opposed a 2008 United
Nations General Assembly resolution calling for the universal
decriminalization of being gay because it could lead to the
legalization of gay marriage.
Despite the church's teachings that
homosexuality is a “disorder” and Pope Benedict's vocal
opposition to gay marriage, a
survey released Wednesday found a large majority of U.S. Catholics
support civil marriage for gay and lesbian couples.