Topic: LGBT Rights
Country: United States
Delegate Name: Emma Getz
School: Fishers High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All United States position papers GLIMUN 2015 committees
The United States of America was founded on the basis of protecting the civil liberties of our citizens. As outlined in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. Our nation has a history of protecting our LGBT citizens, most importantly found in the Obergefell v. Hodges case of 2015, lifting bans on same-sex marriage in every state. Same sex sexual activity has also been legal nationwide since 2003. Our “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was repealed in 2011, allowing openly homosexual members to serve on the United States military. Since 2009, crime against citizens for their gender expression or sexual orientation has been identified as a Federal Hate Crime. Adoption for same sex couples has also been legal nationwide since 2015. This puts as as one of the most progressive nations in regards to the rights of gay and lesbian citizens. The legal rights of transgender citizens are currently being widely debated. Currently, assigning gender as male or female is currently left to the states and is dependant in the transition process of transgender citizens.
Due to the natural rights and civil liberties endowed to our citizens, we hold anti-discrimination for LGBT citizens in high regard. Currently, due to our national and state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, many cases come to court regarding discrimination of LGBT citizens in favor of religious liberties. We hope to establish even more anti-discrimination laws so that the rights of LGBT citizens are not infringed by a citizen’s right to religious freedom; even though, as a nation built on religious liberty, we hold a citizen’s freedom to practice religion in the highest regard as well. Overall, the goal of the United States is to eliminate discrimination; whether it be for LGBT citizens or citizens practicing their respective religions. As more states develop anti-discrimination laws, more LGBT citizens are being protected. We hope to eventually legally protect LGBT citizens in the workplace and their familial and public lives.
Many nations have established a national religion, but the United States prides ourselves in the fact that we did not. Because of this, we can protect LGBT citizens from religious discrimination. We hope to implement a universal anti-discrimination clause into our resolution paper. With this, no matter the official religion of a nation, all agreeing nations must protect the civil liberties of their LGBT citizens. Since it would be against our nature to infringe upon the religious freedom of other nations, there is no way we can coerce every nation to agree, our main goal is to persuade nations of their obligation to uphold the basic human rights of their citizens as members of the United Nations.
