A remix of United Nations Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon's video in support of gay rights was released
Wednesday on YouTube.
The two-minute-thirty-second video
begins with video footage showing most representatives from Arab and
African nations walking out earlier this month on an historic session
on gay rights at the United Nations Humans Rights Council in Geneva.
The panel was set to discuss High
Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay's report documenting
discriminatory laws and acts of violence against gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender people.
In her opening remarks, Pillay urged
countries to dedicate themselves to ending violence and
discrimination against people, irrespective of their sexual
orientation or gender identity.
In a video played to the panel, Ban
tells LGBT viewers that they “are not alone.”
“Your struggle for an end to violence
and discrimination is a shared struggle. Any attack on you is an
attack on the universal values the United Nations and I have sworn to
uphold. Today, I stand with you and I call upon all countries and
people to stand with you, too. A historic shift is underway. More
states see the gravity of the problem. … We must tackle the
violence, decriminalize consensual same-sex relationships, ban
discrimination and educate the public,” he said.
The remixed video, which was created by
the gay rights group AllOut.org,
has been viewed more than 4,000 times since its YouTube debut. (The
video is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)