WASHINGTON – The United States, in a reversal of Bush administration policy, has decided to sign on to a UN declaration that calls for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the state department said yesterday.
Spokesman Robert Wood said the Obama administration, which took office eight weeks ago, would now join 66 other UN member states which supported a UN statement in December condemning human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity. “The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world,” Mr Wood told reporters. “As such, we join with 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.”
Gay rights groups immediately welcomed the move. “The administration’s leadership on this issue will be a powerful rebuke of an earlier Bush administration position that sought to deny the universal application of human rights protections,” Mark Bromley, who chairs the Council for Global Equality, said. – (Reuters)