Bruce Knotts is the new Executive Director of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO). He comes to the job after 25 years of U.S. Government service, of which 23 were spent as a U.S. Diplomat with the Department of State. He served as an American diplomat in Greece, Zambia, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Sudan, Cote d'Ivoire, and the Gambia. He also went on shorter diplomatic missions to Guatemala, Belize, Nepal, Egypt, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, France, Belgium, Germany, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea (Conakry), Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.Within the Department of State he served as a Desk Officer in the Office of Central American Affairs, Deputy Office Director in the Office of Directives Management and as the Senior Management Officer in the Office of International Conferences. After he left the diplomatic service, he went on to serve as the Executive Director of the Literacy Council of Prince George’s County Maryland.
Since joining the UU-UNO on January 1, 2008, he has been very active in advocating human rights for women and the LGBT community, working to end the genocide in Darfur, building alliances to end U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and working to prevent military adventures in Iran. He has also been working hard to plan for the upcoming UU-UNO Spring Seminar “Picking up the Pieces; Building a Culture of Peace” which will feature speakers such as: UUA President Bill Sinkford, Ambassador Prudence Bushnell, former UN Deputy Secretary General Gillian Sorensen, Civil and LGBT Rights Activist Keith Boykin, and many others.
One issue which Bruce carried with him from his tenure at the Department of State where he also served on the Board of Directors of GLIFAA (Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies) was the issue of UN exclusion of GLBT groups from obtaining consultative status at the United Nations.
As the Executive Director of the UU-UNO, Bruce sits on a planning committee to recommend themes and speakers for the UN Human Rights Conference in September later this year. As there are no GLBT non-profits at the table, Bruce has used his voice to ensure that GLBT issues will be discussed at the UN Human Rights Conference.
Globally, Bruce said at a recent meeting, he is not so concerned over same-sex marriage recognition. His first priority is to end the death and torture of members of the GLBT community in places such as Iran, Egypt and elsewhere. While he would like his (Canadian) marriage to his partner, Isaac Humphrie, recognized in the rest of the world, it is not a life or death issue. There are gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people who are beaten, tortured and killed due to their sexual orientation. It is those human rights violations that Bruce wants ended. Bruce has also nominated the Rev. Bill Shulz to be a speaker at the conference (Rev. Shulz is a past UUA President and former Executive Director of Amnesty International).
Bruce wrote e-mails to the U.S. Representative to the United Nations and to the Deputy Representative to the UN ECOSOC (Economic Social Council) urging the U.S. to use its diplomatic clout and military supplies to ensure that the UN force in Sudan be properly mandated and equipped. In response, the U.S. Mission set up a briefing and invited representatives from Care International, Oxfam, Amnesty International, MSF: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF - Doctors without Boarders), and the International Rescue Committee.
These five giant humanitarian and international justice-seeking organizations are in partnership with the UU office at the United Nations to create meaningful change. The UU UNO was, as it has been before, the catalyst for the meeting to happen; the US Mission was represented by T. Kirk McBride, Deputy Political Counselor; Jesse S. Levinson, Political Advisor; and Fiona Shanks, Advisor on Humanitarian Affairs.
Care, Oxfam, MSF, and IRC have humanitarian workers on the ground in Chad and Sudan. The US mission was interested in the news they could provide to fill in the large gaps in the US government’s information on the region. Amnesty International was most concerned with prisoners in Chad. Bruce raised the more global issues of what the US was doing to ensure that the mandate of both peacekeeping missions were adequate and that they were properly equipped.
Bruce has been working with United for Peace and Justice to help end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while preventing a war with Iran by participating in various peace marches; he is working with United for Peace and Justice to plan for a march in New York City on March 22nd, 2008. and
As Bruce says, Working for the UU-UNO is for me, the right work, in the right place, with and for the right people.
For more information about the UU-UNO, please visit the UU-UNO website.
