Landmark UN Vote on Sexual Orientation

The United Nations Human Rights Council has taken a landmark step forward by addressing for the first time violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The council, in the session that ended on June 17, 2011, also sent a strong signal that human rights violations in Belarus should end, but mustered only a muted response to the crisis in Yemen and no mention at all of Bahrain’s continuing crackdown.