Mexico is main sponsor of U.N. rights council to protect LGBT people

The U.N. Human Rights Council agreed on Thursday to appoint an independent investigator to help protect homosexuals and transgender people worldwide from violence and discrimination.

After a heated debate lasting almost four hours, the 47-member state forum overcame strong objections by Saudi Arabia and Muslim countries to adopt a Western-backed resolution by a vote of 23 states in favor and 18 against with six abstentions.

The United Nations expert, still to be named, will have a three-year mandate.

Mexico, which led Latin American states that were the main sponsors of the text, said that thousands of . . .