The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) condemns the effort by the United States President and Congress to pass a federal constitutional amendment that would institutionalize legal discrimination against same-sex couples as a clear violation of international human rights. According to IGLHRC, any constitutional amendment that legalizes discrimination against a defined group violates the United State’s international obligations to promote and ensure equal treatment under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Specifically, Article 26 of the ICCPR, which the United States signed on May 10, 1977 and the Congress ratified on August 9, 1992, states:

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.

According to Paula Ettelbrick, IGLHRC’s executive director:

The attempt by any country in the world to legalize discrimination against any group, including lesbian, gay, transgender or bisexual people, in its constitution is an unquestioned violation of international treaties adopted to prevent governments from politically targeting vulnerable or disliked groups. Political and legal abuse of a minority group is as reprehensible as targeting them for physical or mental abuse. The United States Department of State rightly condemned Nigeria’s proposal to outlaw any form of homosexual expression including same-sex marriage, yet it stands speechless as its own President bends to pressure from religious extremists to use the constitution as a weapon in their war against LGBT people.