New Zealand has become a signatory to a United Nations statement condemning criminal penalties against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, however a bloc of Islamic nations and the United States have refused to sign up.

Sixty-six nations in the UN General Assembly, including New Zealand and Australia, have signed the non-binding statement but sixty nations, led by Syria and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, opposed “the attempt to focus on the rights of certain persons”.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanetham Pillay supported the UN statement in a video message. “Those who are lesbian, gay or bisexual, those who are transgender, transsexual or intersex, are full and equal members of the human family and are entitled to be treated as such,” she said. “The ageless cliché that everyone is equal but some are more equal than others is not acceptable.”