We have been on this story for a while. And now, I am happy to report that the Obama administration reversed the previous administration’s position and signed a General Assembly document that calls on all UN member states to decriminalize homosexuality.
“The United States supports the U.N.’s statement on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity and is pleased to join the other 66 U.N. member states who have declared their support of the statement,” said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.
“The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world,” 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.”
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the administration would endorse the declaration.
As I’ve written before, this is only a symbolic gesture, but one certainly that gets us closer to a world in which states do not discriminate against their citizens based on sexual orientation.