Late last week the government of France, in its role as six-
month president of the European Union (EU), began circulating a
draft declaration on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”
among United Nations (UN) member states. The draft calls for
recognition of “sexual orientation or gender identity” as a
protected human rights category on par with race and sex. Rama
Yade, France’s Junior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and
Human Rights, had previously announced that her country would
submit such a “declaration” at the UN General Assembly in
December. Sources have told the Friday Fax that so far at least
47 nations have signed onto the draft declaration, a list that
presumably includes all 27 member states of the EU. It is
expected to take the form of a “political declaration” which
will not be voted on, but simply submitted to the Secretary-
General for promulgation as representative of the views of the
signatory nations. The declaration also calls for states “to
ensure that sexual orientation or gend