The United Nations on Thursday
announced it would begin recognizing gay staff members' unions based
on place of celebration.
“Previously, a staff member's
personal status was determined by the laws applicable in their
country or nationality,” a UN policy statement reads. “Now,
personal status will be determined instead by the law of the
competent authority under which the personal status was established.”
Hyung Hak Nam, president of the UN's
LGBT affinity group UN-GLOBE, called the move “a historic
achievement … that brings us closer to full equality.”
“What this means is simple: If you're
a staff member in a legal union, the UN will recognize it,” Nam
said. “If you were thinking of entering into one, you can now
do so with the full knowledge that the UN will recognize it.”
“Much still remains to be done. We
have to address homophobia and transphobia in the workplace,” Nam
added. “We have to make sure staff members' sons and daughters –
our families, not only our partners – are recognized.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
(pictured), a
strong supporter of LGBT rights, said of the change: “Human
rights are at the core of the United Nations. I am proud to stand
for greater equality for all staff, and I call on all members of our
UN family to unite in rejecting homophobia as discrimination that can
never be tolerated at our workplace.”
According to an analysis released this
week, 10 percent of the world's population lives in a jurisdiction
where gay and lesbian couples can marry. Many nations recognize gay
couples with civil unions.
(Related: Pennsylvania
pushed world population living with marriage equality over ten
percent.)