United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has dismissed calls by U.N. member countries for the world body to withdraw the LGBT stamps, which the organisation has been lobbying as part of the global campaign to promote freedom and equality.

The stamps were issued last month at U.N, headquarters to great fanfare and expense in an eccentric ceremony featuring an all-male 33-member-strong gay chorus singing love songs against a backdrop of naked dancers and Greek gods, LifeSite News reported. The stamps depict homosexuality, transsexualism and homosexual "parenting."

Delegations from at least 86 countries reportedly tried to prevent the release of the stamps on the eve of the event. Ambassadors and representatives from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the African Group sent letters to Ban expressing their objection to the stamps. They visited Yukio Takasu, U.N. Undersecretary General for Management, after getting no response from Ban.

The U.N. Secretary General did not personally respond to the objections and instead used subordinates—a decision that could be interpreted as "condescension and disrespect to the ambassadors who sent the letters."

Ban said the roll-out of the stamps is "in line with the mandate" of the U.N. Postal Administration.

Takasu also justified the stamps as "commemorations of the Free and Equal campaign of the U.N. bureaucracy. Critics, however, said the stamps promote sodomy.

In his letter to the ambassadors, Takasu said the event was in "full compliance" with U.N. regulations and administrative instructions and has met the mandate of the U.N. Postal Administration to produce stamps that "promote the work of the UN organisation."

Takasu dismissed the possibility of withdrawing the stamps although he conceded that they may be inappropriate.

"While it would not be possible to withdraw the stamps, in view of the seriousness of your concerns, we are taking this opportunity to review the internal procedures governing the issue of United Nations stamps," his letter concludes.

According to reports, 76 countries prohibit sodomy explicitly in their laws, and no U.N. treaty includes LGBT rights or protects homosexual conduct explicitly or implicitly.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and some other countries have called for a stop to homosexual promotion.