Two LGBT Groups
Receive U.N. Consultative Status

Two sexual orientation and gender identity rights groups were granted consultative status on Tuesday by the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

COC Netherlands and the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals, and Bisexuals of Spain (FELGTB) are national organizations representing LGBT communities in the Netherlands and Spain.

"It means we can join the efforts at the U.N. to address human rights violations against people with an alternative sexual orientation or gender identity," said Bjorn van Roozendaal, COC Netherlands's international advocacy officer, reports PinkNews, a major online source for European gay news.

Consultative status allows nongovernmental organizations to deliver oral and written reports at U.N. meetings.

COC Netherlands and FELGTB Spain join approximately 3,000 other NGOs with consultative status at the U.N., only a few of which are gay rights advocacy groups.

The NGO Committee is scheduled to review a number of additional applications from LGBT groups at its next two sessions in January and May 2009. ( The Advocate )