UN body calls for protection of gay rights

Via AP:

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s main human rights forum has condemned for the first time discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The 47-member Human Rights Council voted 23 in favor and 19 against Friday, with 3 abstentions, for the resolution put forward by South Africa.

It establishes a panel to review discrimination of gays and lesbians around the world.

The resolution was backed by the United States, the European Union, Brazil and other Latin American countries.

But African and Islamic countries, led by Nigeria and Pakistan, slammed the resolution saying it had "nothing to do with fundamental human rights."