Saudi Arabia Protests Inclusion Of Gay Rights In UN Development Agenda

Saudi Arabia is protesting any references to homosexuality in a sweeping new agenda for global development, saying it runs "counter to Islamic law."

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told a U.N. summit of world leaders Sunday that "mentioning sex in the text, to us, means exactly male and female. Mentioning family means consisting of a married man and woman."

He asserted his country's right to not follow any rules that relate to any "deviations" from that belief as the world moves forward on the new development agenda.

The so-called Sustainable Development Goals include a target to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights by 2030. Some states like Saudi Arabia and the Vatican are concerned that references to "sexual rights" include rights for gay people.

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