Massachusetts Representative Barney
Frank on Wednesday blasted a Libyan diplomat's anti-gay remarks.
Frank, the nation's most powerful
openly gay elected official, called United Nations President Ali
Abdussalam Treki's anti-gay remarks “bigoted.”
“This is par for the course for a
Libyan official – offensive, stupid and bigoted,” Frank told On
Top Magazine in an email.
In a press conference to open the 64th
session of the United Nations General Assembly, Treki said a UN
resolution that calls for the universal decriminalization of being
gay was “not acceptable.”
“[T]hat matter is very sensitive,
very touchy,” Treki said. “As a Muslim, I am not in favor of it
… it is not accepted by the majority of countries. My opinion is
not in favor of this matter at all. I think it's not really
acceptable by our religion, our tradition”
“It is not acceptable in the majority
of the world. And there are some countries that allow that, thinking
it is a kind of democracy … I think it is not,” he added.
The resolution, sponsored by France and
the Netherlands, met with strong resistance from a group of Arab
leaders who challenged it with a statement condemning being gay. The
Arab-backed statement decried the decriminalization of being gay
because it might lead to “the social normalization, and possibly
the legitimization, of many deplorable acts including pedophilia.”
Vatican officials also balked at the pro-gay resolution, saying it
would promote gay marriage.
Treki's comments have also been
criticized by Illinois Representative Mike Quigley, a Democrat and
ardent ally of the gay and lesbian community, and Florida
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the
House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“I respect that there is a healthy
diversity of viewpoints across our country and around the world, but
to preserve that very freedom of expression, human rights need to be
our common denominator,” Quigley told On Top Magazine in an
email.
“With regard to the gentleman's
remarks, what's 'not acceptable' is drawing geographic borders around
equality,” he added.
In a statement released last week, Rep.
Ros-Lehtinen said: “The anti-gay bigotry spewed by this Qaddafi
shill demonstrates once again that the UN has been hijacked by
advocates of hate and intolerance. Likewise, the leadership of the
UN Development Program is held by the Iranian regime, which denies
the presence of gays in Iran even as it murders them and other
innocent citizens.”
“Congress must demand better by
enacting pending legislation that would leverage our contributions to
the UN to produce sweeping, meaningful reform in that body,” she
added.