DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, cautioned that a new resolution referencing “women in all their diversity,” “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” fails to take into account respect for other cultural norms. The UN General Assembly’s resolution called “upon States to take measures to eliminate laws, regulations and practices that discriminate, directly or indirectly, against citizens in their right to participate in public affairs, including based on race, colour, ethnicity, national or social origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, language, religion, political views or on the basis of disability.” In his comments carried by the Saudi Gazette , Mouallimi said that God created man and woman, male and female, arguing that what is not male and female is “against nature.” Terms such as “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” go against Saudi Arabia’s history, as well as the voice and legislation of many other countries. He said that international democracy can only be practiced if it is based on a moral foundation that respects the values and cultures of other peoples. "The imposition of values and concepts that are inconsistent with this divine nature is rejected by countries whose culture, religious identity, customs and traditions reject these values and concepts,” he said. “From the perspective of the firm belief of the Kingdom that every state has the right to enact laws and regulations in accordance with the moral values of their societies and accordance with their culture and religious identity, and because the sponsors of the resolution ignored our firm stance on the highly sensitive terms and concepts contained in the text of the resolution, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has reservations regarding what is stated in draft resolution No. A/C.3/76/L.45/Rev.1.”