Director General Tokayev and Ms. Wyden along with other ministers, ambassadors, excellencies,

and UN partners. This weekend, we will celebrate Human Rights Day, the anniversary of one of

the great accomplishments of the last century.

Beginning in 1947, delegates from six continents devoted themselves to drafting a declaration

that would enshrine the fundamental rights and freedoms of people everywhere. In the

aftermath of World War II, many nations pressed for a statement of this kind to help ensure

that we would prevent future atrocities and protect the inherent humanity and dignity

of all people. And so the delegates went to work. They discussed, they wrote, they revisited,

revised, rewrote, for thousands of hours. And they incorporated suggestions and revisions

from governments, organizations, and individuals around the world.

At three o'clock in the morning on December 10th, 1948, after nearly two years of drafting

and one last long night of debate, the president of the UN General Assembly called for a vote

on the final text. Forty-eight nations voted in favor; eight abstained; none dissented.

And the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. It proclaims a simple, powerful

idea: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. And with the declaration,

it was made clear that rights are not conferred by government; they are the birthright of

all people. It does not matter what country we live in, who our leaders are, or even who

we are. Because we are human, we therefore have rights. And because we have rights, governments

are bound to protect them.

In the 63 years since the declaration was adopted, many nations have made great progress

in making human rights a human reality. Step by step, barriers that once prevented people

from enjoying the full measure of liberty, the full experience of dignity, and the full

benefits of humanity have fallen away. In many places, racist laws have been repealed,

legal and social practices that relegated women to second-class status have been abolished,

the ability of religious minorities to practice their faith freely has been secured.

In most cases, this progress was not easily won. People fought and organized and campaigned

in public squares and private spaces to change not only laws, but hearts and minds. And thanks

to that work of generations, for millions of individuals whose lives were once narrowed

by injustice, they are now able to live more freely and to participate more fully in the

political, economic, and social lives of their communities.

Now, there is still, as you all know, much more to be done to secure that commitment,

that reality, and progress for all people. Today, I want to talk about the work we have

left to do to protect one group of people whose human rights are still denied in too

many parts of the world today. In many ways, they are an invisible minority. They are arrested,

beaten, terrorized, even executed. Many are treated with contempt and violence by their

fellow citizens while authorities empowered to protect them look the other way or, too

often, even join in the abuse. They are denied opportunities to work and learn, driven from

their homes and countries, and forced to suppress or deny who they are to protect themselves

from harm.

I am talking about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, human beings born

free and given bestowed equality and dignity, who have a right to claim that, which is now

one of the remaining human rights challenges of our time. I speak about this subject knowing

that my own country's record on human rights for gay people is far from perfect. Until

2003, it was still a crime in parts of our country. Many LGBT Americans have endured

violence and harassment in their own lives, and for some, including many young people,

bullying and exclusion are daily experiences. So we, like all nations, have more work to

do to protect human rights at home.

Now, raising this issue, I know, is sensitive for many people and that the obstacles standing

in the way of protecting the human rights of LGBT people rest on deeply held personal,

political, cultural, and religious beliefs. So I come here before you with respect, understanding,

and humility. Even though progress on this front is not easy, we cannot delay acting.

So in that spirit, I want to talk about the difficult and important issues we must address

together to reach a global consensus that recognizes the human rights of LGBT citizens

everywhere.

The first issue goes to the heart of the matter. Some have suggested that gay rights and human

rights are separate and distinct; but, in fact, they are one and the same. Now, of course,

60 years ago, the governments that drafted and passed the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights were not thinking about how it applied to the LGBT community. They also weren’t

thinking about how it applied to indigenous people or children or people with disabilities

or other marginalized groups. Yet in the past 60 years, we have come to recognize that members

of these groups are entitled to the full measure of dignity and rights, because, like all people,

they share a common humanity.

This recognition did not occur all at once. It evolved over time. And as it did, we understood

that we were honoring rights that people always had, rather than creating new or special rights

for them. Like being a woman, like being a racial, religious, tribal, or ethnic minority,

being LGBT does not make you less human. And that is why gay rights are human rights, and

human rights are gay rights.

It is violation of human rights when people are beaten or killed because of their sexual

orientation, or because they do not conform to cultural norms about how men and women

should look or behave. It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal

to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished. It is a violation of human

rights when lesbian or transgendered women are subjected to so-called corrective rape,

or forcibly subjected to hormone treatments, or when people are murdered after public calls

for violence toward gays, or when they are forced to flee their nations and seek asylum

in other lands to save their lives. And it is a violation of human rights when life-saving

care is withheld from people because they are gay, or equal access to justice is denied

to people because they are gay, or public spaces are out of bounds to people because

they are gay. No matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we are, we are

all equally entitled to our human rights and dignity.

The second issue is a question of whether homosexuality arises from a particular part

of the world. Some seem to believe it is a Western phenomenon, and therefore people outside

the West have grounds to reject it. Well, in reality, gay people are born into and belong

to every society in the world. They are all ages, all races, all faiths; they are doctors

and teachers, farmers and bankers, soldiers and athletes; and whether we know it, or whether

we acknowledge it, they are our family, our friends, and our neighbors.

Being gay is not a Western invention; it is a human reality. And protecting the human

rights of all people, gay or straight, is not something that only Western governments

do. South Africa’s constitution, written in the aftermath of Apartheid, protects the

equality of all citizens, including gay people. In Colombia and Argentina, the rights of gays

are also legally protected. In Nepal, the supreme court has ruled that equal rights

apply to LGBT citizens. The Government of Mongolia has committed to pursue new legislation

that will tackle anti-gay discrimination.

Now, some worry that protecting the human rights of the LGBT community is a luxury that

only wealthy nations can afford. But in fact, in all countries, there are costs to not protecting

these rights, in both gay and straight lives lost to disease and violence, and the silencing

of voices and views that would strengthen communities, in ideas never pursued by entrepreneurs

who happen to be gay. Costs are incurred whenever any group is treated as lesser or the other,

whether they are women, racial, or religious minorities, or the LGBT. Former President

Mogae of Botswana pointed out recently that for as long as LGBT people are kept in the

shadows, there cannot be an effective public health program to tackle HIV and AIDS. Well,

that holds true for other challenges as well.

The third, and perhaps most challenging, issue arises when people cite religious or cultural

values as a reason to violate or not to protect the human rights of LGBT citizens. This is

not unlike the justification offered for violent practices towards women like honor killings,

widow burning, or female genital mutilation. Some people still defend those practices as

part of a cultural tradition. But violence toward women isn't cultural; it's criminal.

Likewise with slavery, what was once justified as sanctioned by God is now properly reviled

as an unconscionable violation of human rights.

In each of these cases, we came to learn that no practice or tradition trumps the human

rights that belong to all of us. And this holds true for inflicting violence on LGBT

people, criminalizing their status or behavior, expelling them from their families and communities,

or tacitly or explicitly accepting their killing.

Of course, it bears noting that rarely are cultural and religious traditions and teachings

actually in conflict with the protection of human rights. Indeed, our religion and our

culture are sources of compassion and inspiration toward our fellow human beings. It was not

only those who’ve justified slavery who leaned on religion, it was also those who

sought to abolish it. And let us keep in mind that our commitments to protect the freedom

of religion and to defend the dignity of LGBT people emanate from a common source. For many

of us, religious belief and practice is a vital source of meaning and identity, and

fundamental to who we are as people. And likewise, for most of us, the bonds of love and family

that we forge are also vital sources of meaning and identity. And caring for others is an

expression of what it means to be fully human. It is because the human experience is universal

that human rights are universal and cut across all religions and cultures.

The fourth issue is what history teaches us about how we make progress towards rights

for all. Progress starts with honest discussion. Now, there are some who say and believe that

all gay people are pedophiles, that homosexuality is a disease that can be caught or cured,

or that gays recruit others to become gay. Well, these notions are simply not true. They

are also unlikely to disappear if those who promote or accept them are dismissed out of

hand rather than invited to share their fears and concerns. No one has ever abandoned a

belief because he was forced to do so.

Universal human rights include freedom of expression and freedom of belief, even if

our words or beliefs denigrate the humanity of others. Yet, while we are each free to

believe whatever we choose, we cannot do whatever we choose, not in a world where we protect

the human rights of all.

Reaching understanding of these issues takes more than speech. It does take a conversation.

In fact, it takes a constellation of conversations in places big and small. And it takes a willingness

to see stark differences in belief as a reason to begin the conversation, not to avoid it.

But progress comes from changes in laws. In many places, including my own country, legal

protections have preceded, not followed, broader recognition of rights. Laws have a teaching

effect. Laws that discriminate validate other kinds of discrimination. Laws that require

equal protections reinforce the moral imperative of equality. And practically speaking, it

is often the case that laws must change before fears about change dissipate.

Many in my country thought that President Truman was making a grave error when he ordered

the racial desegregation of our military. They argued that it would undermine unit cohesion.

And it wasn't until he went ahead and did it that we saw how it strengthened our social

fabric in ways even the supporters of the policy could not foresee. Likewise, some worried

in my country that the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don’t Tell” would have a negative

effect on our armed forces. Now, the Marine Corps Commandant, who was one of the strongest

voices against the repeal, says that his concerns were unfounded and that the Marines have embraced

the change.

Finally, progress comes from being willing to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. We

need to ask ourselves, "How would it feel if it were a crime to love the person I love?

How would it feel to be discriminated against for something about myself that I cannot change?"

This challenge applies to all of us as we reflect upon deeply held beliefs, as we work

to embrace tolerance and respect for the dignity of all persons, and as we engage humbly with

those with whom we disagree in the hope of creating greater understanding.