Topic: LGBT Rights
Country: Russia
Delegate Name: Natalie Howard
School: Kalamazoo Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Russia position papers GLIMUN 2018 committees
The rights of LGBT people is a highly controversial topic between a variety of countries. The United Nations has tried on multiple occasions to address the complexities of this issue. Unfortunately, due to the moral standards and cultural ideals of many countries, the current solutions proposed by the UN body often fail to tackle the issue as a whole. In order to eliminate rising reports of hate crimes, the Human Rights Council needs to be competent enough to establish a long lasting solution for such a hotly contested issue. With national sovereignty at stake it is questionable if the UNHRC has enough incentive and authority to convince nations to change their religious and moral beliefs regarding LGBT people.
The Russian Federation believes it is of utmost importance that this body respects the national sovereignty of every nation in the committee. The citizens of Russia do not take kindly to the LGBT community. In order to protect the lives of LGBT citizens, Russia officially decriminalized sexual relations between members of the same sex in 1993. As if this measure was not enough, we have also enforced strong policies of “don’t ask dont tell” to protect LGBT citizens throughout the nation. Russia believes that the best way to avoid hostility is if people avoid being upfront about it. The best protection for LGBT people is to remain silent, this ensures that the people of Russia do not feel as though they need to bend their will to the minority, thus avoiding conflict. Attempting to spread the belief that non-traditional relationships should be accepted by the Russian people will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
Russia believes that we have done everything we can do to protect the lives of LGBT people within our borders. This call to action by the UNHRC is a threat to our national sovereignty, and challenges beliefs which rest at the foundation of our country. We will not support a resolution which attempts to force nations into accepting individuals who have chosen an nontraditional lifestyle. It is absurd of the United Nations to impose its cultural and religious beliefs onto other states. We look forward to working with like-minded countries to ensure no resolution is passed that threatens the borders of our great nations.
