3 rd GA – SOCHUM
by Sarantaki Evridiki
The topic of the SOCHUM Committee is
preventing violence and discrimination
based on sexual orientation and gender
identity. The atmosphere on our
Committee was ideal and the delegates
had an excellent cooperation. The
countries who stood out were the
Netherlands and Canada. They were witty
and very well-prepared. Countries like
Sweden took part in conversation but they
were not open at any points of
information. There were lots of ideas and
views in the Committee. Countries like
Poland, Cyprus, Romania, South Arabia
and Japan think that LGBT people are equals with the other people; although their countries do not
allow gay marriage. In particular Japan mentioned that LGBT people have to be treated like every
other citizen. For that reason they think that they do not need separate laws. Other countries, such
as Mexico, Croatia and Canada, have separate laws for LGBT people, for example different law about
allowing gay marriage. Generally they are trying to create some kind of “environment” for LGBT
people. On the contrary, countries such as Russia do not allow gays in their country. For that reason
lots of delegates kind of attacked at Russia’s delegate. Also in Denmark teachers at schools think that
discussing with their students about LGBT people is kind of a taboo. Many countries like South
Arabia mentioned that social media might give the wrong message to the people and create some
stereotypes. The views were different but that made the conversation more interesting to the
delegates of our Committee.