Main | Wednesday, March 18, 2009

U.S. To Sign UN Gay Rights Declaration

Dubya wouldn't sign it, but President Obama will. The AP has been leaked word that the United States will sign on to the United Nations resolution calling for the global decriminalization of homosexuality. If you recall, one of Dubya's last acts was to refuse to sign in December.
The move was made after an interagency review of the Bush administration's position on the nonbinding document, which was signed by all 27 European Union members as well as Japan, Australia, Mexico and three dozen other countries, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Congress was still being notified of the decision. They said the administration had decided to sign the declaration to demonstrate that the United States supports human rights for all.

"The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world," said one official. "As such, we join with the other supporters of this statement and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora," the official said. The official added that the United States was concerned about "violence and human rights abuses against gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual individuals" and was also "troubled by the criminalization of sexual orientation in many countries." "In the words of the United States Supreme Court, the right to be free from criminalization on the basis of sexual orientation 'has been accepted as an integral part of human freedom'," the official said.
The resolution is non-binding - there aren't going to be any UN peacekeepers swooping into Jamaica or anything. But still!

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