CELEBRITIES LAUNCH GLOBAL CAMPAIGN

TO DECRIMINALIZE HOMOSEXUALITY

Paris, November 20, 2006 -- Prof. Louis-Georges Tin, president of the
International Committee for IDAHO (the International Day Against
Homophobia), today announced the launching of a global petition campaign for
a proposed United Nations resolution in favor of the universal
decriminalization of homosexuality.

"With more than 70 countries in the world still making homosexuality a crime
by law -- and punishable by death in twelve of them -- this is a legal
scandal which the petition for a proposed U.N. resolution decriminalizing
homosexuality gives people a concrete way to fight," Tin said.

The International Committee for IDAHO coordinates world-wide annual
observances of the Day Against Homophobia each May 17 -- and in this, its
second year, IDAHO was marked by events in over 50 countries and endorsed by
the European Parliament.

IDAHO today released not only the text of the petition (FULL TEXT BELOW) but
also a list of hundreds of national and international organisations,
well-known cultural, political, and intellectual figures who have endorsed
the campaign :

---many international NGOs such as the ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay
Association), the FIDH (Fédération Internationale des Droits de l'Homme),
the IUSY (International Union of Socialist Youth), the International AIDS
Society, the ILGCN (International Lesbian and Gay Cultural Network) etc.

--- five Nobel Prize winners:
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu, South Africa,
Nobel Laureate for Literature Dario Fo, Italy,
Nobel Laureate for Literature José Saramago, Portugal,
Nobel Laureate for Literature Elfriede Jelinek, Austria,
Nobel Laureate for Economics Amartya Sen, India;

---from the entertainment industry, Merryl Streep, Sir Elton John, David
Bowie, Edward Norton, Lily Tomlin, Victoria Abril, Cyndi Lauper, directors
Bernardo Bertolucci and Mike Nichols, and Hollywood producer Kathleen
Kennedy;

--- distinguished writers and intellectuals like Salman Rushdie, Gore Vidal,
Sir Tom Stoppard, Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, Noam Chomsky, Russell Banks,
Judith Butler, John Patrick Shanley, Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Richard
Sennett, Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman, and 10 Pulitzer
Prize winners;

--- leading African-American intellectuals like Cornel West and K. Anthony
Appiah;

--- political leaders, including Jacques Delors, former President of the
European Commission; two former French Prime Ministers (Michel Rocard and
Laurent Fabius); Michael Cashman, president of the Intergroup on gay and
lesbian rights of the Europarliament ; Thomas Hammerberg of Sweden,
Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe ; former European
Union Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs Antonio Vitorino of
Portugal, and Mayor Bertrand Delanoe of Paris, France.
(A LONGER LIST OF ENDORSERS IS APPENDED BELOW)

The petition -- entitled, "For the Universal Decriminalization of
Homosexuality" and based essentially on the articles of the U.N.’s Universal
Declaration of Human Rights -- says, in part, "We ask the United Nations to
request a a universal abolition of the so-called ‘crime of homosexuality‘,
of all ‘sodomy laws‘, and laws against so-called ’unnatural acts‘ in all the
countries where they still exist."

Tin said that "the object of the petition is to insure that a
decriminalization resolution will be presented at the United Nations in the
months to come."

Michael Cashman, the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) who is
President of the EuroParliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Affairs,
declared: "The members of the Intergroup unanimously support this initiative
of the IDAHO Committee. We hope that it will go far, and that it will bring
strong pressure to bear on the United Nations. We invite everyone who
supports fundamental human rights to support this petition, and to ask their
friends and co-workers to do so too."

Alice Nkom, the African human rights lawyer who defended the 11 young men
arrested earlier this year in Cameroon and imprisoned for homosexuality,
said: "This proposed resolution gives us immense optimism, and we ardently
hope that Louis-Georges Tin and the IDAHO Committee will achieve their goal.
This is a fight for liberty and for human rights."

Tin noted that, "In October this year, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention declared that the imprisonment in Cameroon of 11 young men who’d
been caught in a raid on a gay bar on charges of homosexuality was ‘an
arbitrary deprivation of liberty‘ that violates the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights. That’s encouraging."

Tin added that, "It is obvious that the battle to get the U.N. to pass such
a resolution is a difficult one, because there are a number of Heads of
State who justify and encourage homophobic violence. Despite this, we are
counting on the U.N.’s own preceding jurisprudence in this matter. In 1994,
the U.N.’s Commission on Human Rights (as it was called then) condemned
Tasmania for making homosexuality a crime. As a result, Tasmania had to
change its legislation to make it conform to the U.N.’s position. The object
of our petition is to make the U.N.’s jurisprudence in the Tasmania case
applicable to all the countries which still penalize homosexuality"

The petition may be signed online via the Internet at www.idahomophobia.org.
But local and country associations of all kinds, including labor unions, are
urged to reprint and circulate the petition -- once signatures have been
collected, the completed petitions should be mailed to:

Louis-Georges Tin, President, Comité IDAHO, 26 rue de Lappe, 75011 Paris,
FRANCE.

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PETITION FOLLOWS:


TO THE UNITED NATIONS :
Petition

"For a universal decriminalization of homosexuality"
Considering
The Universal declaration of Human Rights, which says:
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are
endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a
spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth or other status.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy,
family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and
reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.

Considering
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted by
General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966, entry into
force 23 March 1976), which says:
Article 17
1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his
privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his
honour and reputation.
2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.

Considering
The Human Rights Committee’s decision in Toonen v. Australia (04 April
1994)
We ask the United Nations
to request a universal abolition of the so-called "crime of homosexuality",
of all "sodomy laws", and laws against so-called "unnatural acts" in all the
countries where they still exist.

Among the first supports for this petition are :

International Organisations --

-Association Européenne des Droits de l'homme

-Equality for Gays and Lesbians in the European Institutions (EGALITE)

-Fédération Internationale des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH)

-International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA)

-Intergroup of the European Parliament on gay and lesbian rights

-International Aids Society

-International Gay and Lesbian Cultural Network (IGLCN)

-International Gay and Lesbian Youth Organisation (IGLYO)

-International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA)

-International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY)

-Nordic Rainbow Council

-Nordic Rainbow Humanists

-World Union of Meretz

National Organisations

-ABGLT - Associao Brasileira de Gays, Lsbicas e Transgneros (Brazil)

-Act Up (France)

-ADEFHO (Cameroon)

-And Liggey (Senegal)

-Arc-en-Ciel Plus (Ivory Coast)

-An Nou Allé ! (France)

-Associao ILGA Portugal (Portugal)

-Aujourd'hui autrement (France)

-Birmingham University LGBT Association (UK)

-Blue Diamond Society (Nepal)

-Center for Constitutional Rights (USA)

-Campaign against homophobia (Poland)

-Le Centre Gai et lesbien de Paris (France)

-La CGT (France)

-Clube Safo (Portugal)

-Coordination Lesbienne en France (France)

-Le CRAN, National Council of Black Associations, (France)

-Equality Now! Development Group (Kenya)

-La Fédération française des Centres LGBT (France)

-FELGT (Spain)

-Fondation Emergence (Canada)

-La FSU (France)

-Fundación Huesped (Argentina)

-George House Trust (UK)

-Green Party LGBT Group of England and Wales (UK)

-Grupo Dignidade, Curitiba-PR (Brazil)

-Grupo Gay da Bahia (Brazil)

-Grupo Gay Negro de Bahia (Brazil)

-Grupo Quimbanda-Dudu Negros Homossexuais (Brazil)

-Jamaica Forum For Lesbians All-Sexuals and Gays (Jamaica)

-Jerusalem Open House (Israel)

-Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans History Month (UK)

-Lesbian and Gay Foundation, Manchester (UK)

-La Ligue de l'Enseignement (France)

-La Ligue des Droits de l'Homme (France)

-La Lucarne (Belgium)

-London Pride (UK)

-Maneo (Germany)

-Meretz (Israel)

-Le Mouvement des Jeunes Socialistes (France)

-Le MRAP (France)

-Ne te prives - Grupo de Defesa dos Direitos Sexuais (Portugal)

-National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (USA)

-OutRage! (UK)

-Panteras Rosas - Frente de Combate ELesbigaytransfobia (Portugal)

-Le Parti Communiste (France)

-Le Parti Radical de Gauche (France)

-The Progressive magazine (USA)

-Project GayRussia (Russia)

-Les Putes (France)

-Le RAVAD (France)

-Sans Contrefaçon (France)

-School’s Out (UK)

-SOS Homophobie (France)

-SOS Racisme (France)

-L'UNEF (France)

-UNSA Education (France)

-Les Verts (France)

Persons (in formation)--

-Tom O. Abongo (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Victoria Abril (actress, Spain)

-Janet Afary (president of the International Society of Iranian Scholars,
Iran)

-Edward Albee (playwright, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, USA)

-Nikolai Alekseev (co-organiser of the first Gay Pride in Moscow, Russia)

-Lord Waheed Alli (member of the House of Lords, UK)

-Dennis Altman (academic, author of Homosexual : Oppression and Liberation,
Australia)

-Martin Amis (writer, UK)

-Tom Ammiano (member and former president of the Board of Supervisors of San
Francisco, USA)

-Claude Angeli (co-chief editor of the Canard Enchaine, France)

-Ronald Aronson (author, professor of Humanities and Inter-disciplinary
Studies, Wayne State University, Michigan, USA)

-Dorothy Atieno (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Irene Atieno (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Mouloud Aounit (president of the MRAP, France)

-Kwame Anthony Appiah (author, philosopher, Princeton University, USA)

-James Awasi (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Susan Awino (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Nicolas Bacchus (musician, singer, France)

-Roselyne Bachelot (member of European Parliament, France)

-Robert Badinter (senator, former minister of justice, France)

-Elisabeth Badinter (philosopher, France)

-Jon Robin Baitz (playwright-scenarist, 4 Tony Awards, USA)

-Russell Banks (President of the International Parliament of Writers, USA)

-François Bayrou (president of the liberal party, UDF, France)

-Yossi Beilin (Member of the Parliament, former minister of justice,
chairman of Meretz, Israel)

-John Berendt (writer, author of Midnight in the garden of Evil and Good,
former editor-in-choef of New York Magazine, USA)

-Pierre Bergé (businessman, France)

-Bernardo Bertolucci (film maker, Italy)

-Jacqueline Bhabha (Executive Director, University Committee on Human Rights
Studies, Harvard University, USA)

-Patrick Bloche (member of Parliament, France)

-Marc Blondel (former president of the Union FO, France)

-Stephen L. Borello (judge, Court of appeals of Michigan, USA)

-Malek Boutih (national secretary of the Socialist Party, France)

-David Bowie (singer, UK)

-Janir Branco (mayor of Rio Grande, Brazil)

-Chris Bryant (member of Parliament, UK)

-Judith Butler (philosopher, USA)

-Marie-George Buffet (leader of the Communist Party, France)

-Pedro Cahn (President of the International AIDS Society, Argentina)

-Yves Cantraine (film maker, Belgium)
-Eric Cara (art director, Belgium)

-Peter Carey, novelist, scenarist (Commonwealth Writers Prize winner,
Australia)

-Bob Carr (former Prime minister of New South Wales, Australia)

-Michael Cashman (member of European Parliament, UK)

-Marcelo Cerqueira (human rights campaigner, Brazil)

-Michael Chabon (novelist, scenarist, winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for
Fiction, USA)

-George Chauncey (historian, Yale University, author of Gay New York, USA)

-Noam Chomsky (linguist, USA)

-Maryse Condé (writer, France)

-Clovis Cornillac (actor, France)

-Nilo Cruz (playwright, Pulitzer Prize Winner, USA)

-Michael Cunningham (novelist, Pulitzer Prize winner, USA)

-Alain Dantinne (writer, Belgium)

-Eugenia Debrianskaya (Leader of the Russian Lesbian Movement, Russia)

-Bertrand Delanoë (mayor of Paris, France)

-Jacques Delors (former president of the European Commission, France)

-Christine Delphy (philosopher, France)

-Roxane Descortes (member of the municipal council of Paris, France)

-Thierry Delaval (general representative of the Région Wallone to the
European Union, Belgium)

-Michel Dorais (professor, researcher, UniversitELaval, Canada)

-Ariel Dorfman (writer, author of Death and the Maiden, Chile)

-Martin Duberman (historian, Pulitzer prize winner, USA)

-Jean-Pierre Dubois (president of the League of human rights, France)

-Laurent Fabius (former prime minister, member of Parliament, France)

-Eric Fassin (sociologist, France)

-Jean-Charles Fischoff (editor, France)

-Dario Fo (playwright, actor, Nobel literature prize winner, Italy)

-Matt Foreman (leader of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, USA)

-Chris Fox (Lead Officer for Gay Mens Issues, Manchester City Council, UK)

-Geneviève Fraisse (philosopher, former member of the European Parliament,
France)

-Lady Antonia Fraser (historian, UK)

-David Furnish (film maker, Canada)

-Monseigneur Gaillot (bishop of Parthénia, France)

-Françoise Gaspard (sociologist, France)

-Michel Giliberti (writer, painter, France)

-Christophe Girard (deputy mayor of Paris in charge of culture, France)

-Maurice Godelier (anthropologist, France)

-Ana Gomes (member of the European Parliament, Portugal)

-Patrick Gonthier (general secretary of the UNSA Education Union, France)

-Lissi Groener (Member of European Parliament, Germany)

-John Guare (playwright, scenarist, USA)

-Jann Halexander (singer, France)

-David Halperin (academic, USA)

-Thomas Hammarberg (commissionner of the Council of Europe on human rights,
Sweden)

-Marie-Elisabeth Handman (anthropologist, France)

-Adeline Hazan (national secretary of the Socialist Party, France)

-Serge Hefez (psychiatrist, France)

-Christopher Hitchens (writer and journalist)

-Manuela Hoelterhoff (journalist, Pulitzer Prize Winner, USA)

-Indochine (musical band, France)

-Sophie In't Veld (Member of European Parliament, vice-president of the
Intergroup on gay and lesbian righst, Holland)

-Doug Ireland (journalist, USA)

-Yves Jégo (member of Parliament, France)

-Elfriede Jelinek (writer, Nobel literature Prize winner, Austria)

-Sir Elton John (singer, composer, UK)

-Carole Seymour Jones (biographer, UK)

-Bruno Julliard (president of the UNEF Union, France)

-Liliane Kandel (member of the reading committee on Les Temps modernes,
France)

-Michel Kazatchkine (ambassador in charge of the fight against aids, France)

-Kathleen Kennedy (producer, USA)

-Rory Kennedy (documentary film maker, USA)

-Larry Kramer (writer, playwright, co-founder of Act Up, USA)

-Tony Kushner (playwright, Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner for Angels
in America, USA)

-Francis Lambert (cultural worker, human rights campaigner, Belgium)

-Jean Lambert (member of the European Parliament, UK)

-Olivier Laouchez (president of Trace TV, France)

-Jack Lang (member of parliament, minister of culture, France)

-Cyndi Lauper (singer, actress, Grammy and Emmy Award winner, USA)

-John Leonard (writer, USA)

-Sue Leonard (writer, USA)

-Lord Anthony Lester (member of the House of lords, UK)

-Jonathan Lethem (novelist, National Book Critic's Circle Award winner for
Motherless Brooklyn, USA)

-Bernard-Henri Lévy (philosopher, France)

-Lara Li (singer, Portugal)

-Sébastien Lifshitz (movie maker, France)

-Judith Light (actress, USA)

-Scott Long (Human Rights Watch, USA)

-Patrick Lowie (writer, playwright, Belgium)

-Patrick Lozès (president of the CRAN, France)

-Caroline Lucas (member of the European Parliament)

-Vincent Mac Doom (artist, France)

-Magloire (TV presentator, France)

-Noël Mamère (member of Parliament, France)

-Paul Martin (chief Executive, The Lesbian and Gay Foundation, Manchester,
UK)

-Karen Maseto (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Ali Mazera (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Serigne Mbodji (human rights campaigner, Senegal)

-Neil Mc Kenna (writer, UK)

-Jacques-Alain Miller (psychanalyst, France)

-Frédéric Mitterrand (movie maker, France)

-Edward Murzin (Member of the Parliament of Bashkortostan, Russia)

-Stephen Musweti (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Meshack Musyoki (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Azar Nafisi (writer, director of International studies at John Hopkins
University, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, Iran)

-Tasliman Nasreen (writer, feminist human rights campaigner, Bengladesh)

-Elizabeth Ngesa (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Alice Nkom (lawyer, Cameroon)

-Edward Norton (actor, USA)

-Benedict Ojwang Awich (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Michel Onfray (philosopher, France)

-Ken Owino (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Rose Oyuko (human rights campaigner, Kenya)

-Michael Palin (actor, writer, UK)

-Pierre Palmade (humorist, France)

-Sunil Babu Pant (human rights campaigner, Nepal)

-Michelle Perrot (historian, France)

-Helena Pinto (member of Parliament)

-Stéphane Pocrain (politician, France)

-Jason Pollock (chief Executive of London Pride, UK)

-Miguel Portas (member of the European Parliament, Portugal)

-Olivier Py (writer, France)

-Pierre et Gilles (artists, France)

-Alexandre Quintanilha (scientist, Portugal)

-Franca Rame (playwright, actress, Italy)

-Marc Ramsbottom (member of the council of the City of Manchester, UK)

-Michelle Reid (chief Executive, George House Trust, Manchester, UK)

-Michel Rocard (former prime minister, France)

-Jean-Luc Roméro (president of Aujourd'hui autrement, France)

-Matthew Rothschild (editor-in-chief, The Progressive Magazine, USA)

-Elisabeth Roudinesco (psychanalyst, France)

-Yvette Roudy (former minister for women rights, France)

-Ségolène Royal (member of Parliament, France)

-Raul Romeva Rueda (Member of the European Parliament, vice-president of the
Intergroup on gay and lesbian rights, Spain)

-Elio Di Rupo (vice-president of the Socialist International, president of
the Belgium Socialist Party, minister of the Région Walonne, Belgium)

-Salmon Rushdie (writer, UK)

-Jose Saramago (writer, winner of the Nobel Literature prize, Portugal)

-Amartya Sen (Nobel Economy Prize, India)

-Richard Sennett (sociologist, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, USA)

-Claude Servan Schreiber (journalist, France)

-John Patrick Shanley (playwright and screenwriter, Pulitzer Prize and
Academy Award (Oscar) Winner, USA)

-Lord Chris Smith (member of the House of Lords, UK)

-Alipio de Sousa Filho (sociologist, Brazil)

-FodESylla (member of the Economical and social Council, France)

-Joo Silvrio Trevisan (writer, Brazil)

-Yoav Sivan (human rights campaigner, LGBT coordinnator of the IUSY, Israel)

-Dominique Sopo (president of SOS Racisme, France)

-Sir Tom Stoppard (playwright, UK)

-Dominique Strauss-Kahn (member of the Parliament, former minister of
economy, France)

-Meryl Streep (actress, twice Academy Award [Oscar] winner, USA)

-Alexander Stubb (Member of the European Parliament, vice-president of the
Intergroup on gay and lesbian rights, Finland)

-Lindsay Tanner (MP, Shadow Finance Minister, Australia)

-Peter Tatchell (human rights campaigner, UK)

-Alex Taylor (journalist, UK)

-Paula Teixeira da Cruz (lawyer and President of the Municipal Assembly of
Lisbon)

-Shirley M. Tilghman (President of Princeton University, USA)

-Lily Tomlin (actress, humorist, Oscar of the Academy Award for her role in
Nashville, Tony Award for One Woman Show, USA)

-Desmond Tutu (bishop, Nobel Peace Prize winner, South Africa)

-Miguel Vale de Almeida (anthropologist, Portugal)

-Christiane Vienne (minister of health, social action and equal opportunity
of the Wallon government, Belgium)

-Bruce Vilanch (artist, writer, USA)

-Antonio Vitorino (lawyer and former EU Commissioner for Justice and Home
Affairs)

-Paula Vogel (playwright, Pulitzer Prize winner, USA)

-Roberto Luiz Warken (sociologist, Brazil)

-Yann Wehrling (leader of the Green Party, France)

-Peter Weiss (lawyer, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights,
USA)

-Cornel West (professor, Princeton University, USA)

-Edmund White (writer, USA)

-Michel Wieviorka (sociologist, France)

-Robert Wintemute (professor of human rights law, UK)

-Doug Wright (playwright, scenarist, Pulitzer Prize winner, USA)

-Ana Zanatti (actress, Portugal)

-Malik Zidi (actor, France)