U.N. Resolution Drops Gay Protections

Pressure from two countries caused a United Nations panel to delete language from a resolution that condemned unjustified executions of gay people.

The resolution, proposed by the human rights committee of the U.N. General Assembly, denounces arbitrary executions of members of marginalized groups, including LGBT people, according to Reuters. Morocco's and Mali's leaders introduced an amendment to remove sexual orientation from the resolution, swapping it with "discriminatory reasons on any basis." The amendment passed 79-70, and the full resolution passed with 165 favorable votes from 192 total member states. The United States voted against the Mali-Morocco amendment and later abstained from the final vote.

The resolution includes condemnations of violence for a variety of reasons, including ethnic, religious, or linguistic ones.