Same-Sex Marriage

After U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced in July that the organization intended to recognize same-sex marriage, Russia indicated that it would oppose the change. Russia led a coalition of United Nations member countries who opposed a change in policy by the organization to recognize and extend staff benefits to same-sex marriages.

The government of Puerto Rico will no longer recognize the law in its civil code forbidding same-sex marriage. Under pressure of a pending appeal in U.S. federal court, the government of the island acknowledged the tide of change sweeping U.S. law since a Supreme Court decision that recognized a same-sex marriage in 2011. The U.S. Supreme Court is due to hear arguments on gay marriage bans from four states, but the government of the Caribbean island nation decided it will no longer defend its marriage ban.

Lining Up to Stand Up Against Equality

Voting with Russia in the U.N. budget committee were a half-dozen nations that join the superpower in opposing the recognition of same-sex partners with staff benefits:

• Lybia
• Syria
• Saudia Arabia
• China
• Iran
• India
• Egypt
• Pakistan

Ultimately the proposal to extend staff benefits to all couples on U.N. staff prevailed by a vote of 80 countries over the 43 that opposed it. A further 37 countries abstained on the record and 33 countries did not vote.

Cultural Differences

Deputy Russian Ambassador to the U.N. said that the change in policy to extend staff partner benefits to same-sex marriages should not be allowed, and that the previous standard recognizing only heterosexual unions was “an example of how the United Nations respects cultural differences, the sovereign right of each and every state to determine its norms.” He denied, however, that Russia was trying to undermine Ban’s authority as head of the U.N.

Exporting Hostility

The U.S. ambassador said that the attempt by the bloc of states, led by Russia, was a blatant attempt to “export to the U.N. its domestic hostility to LGBT rights.” Russian president Vladimir Putin maintains that there is no discrimination toward gays in his country, which decriminalized homosexuality in 1993.

Russia has come under intense worldwide scrutiny for its policies relating to gays. As host of the recent Olympic games in 2014, there was controversy over the attitudes in the country toward the LGBT community. In 2013, the country banned the spread of “gay propaganda” to children.

Morally Unacceptable

Other nations were explicit in their moral condemnation underlying their vote, however. A Saudi diplomat made clear the reasons for his country’s opposition to recognizing same-sex relationships: “Saudi Arabia believes these relationships are morally unacceptable.”

Tides of Change

The governor of Puerto Rico, a practicing Catholic who has defended the ban in the territory on gay marriage, acknowledges that “everyone knows my beliefs, but political leaders should not impose their beliefs.” The Justice Minister in the country was more welcoming of the change, noting that, “we believe in an equal society in which everyone enjoys the same rights.” Singer Ricky Martin, an openly gay native of Puerto Rico, sent out a message to his social media followers proclaiming, “My heart is beating out of my chest. How proud I am to live in a country of equality.”

A World of Tolerance?

Policies, laws, regulations, and standards change in civil society with time. Rights and benefits that have long flowed to married couples are now being opened to same-sex partners in many states and even more countries of the world. Some nations and people in the world want to hold back progress and deny that all people are worthy of the same respect and dignity, regardless of religion, race, gender identity or preference, or any of the countless other divisions that have been used to separate people from one another. Ultimately, the connections that people share exceed the differences between them.