The Obama
administration will support a United Nations declaration
affirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are
included in international human rights protections, the
Associated Press
reported
on Tuesday evening.
According to officials,
who spoke on the condition of anonymity because members of
Congress were still being notified, the Obama administration
had reviewed the reasons why the Bush administration opposed
the declaration, and had decided to notify its French sponsors
that the United States would support it.
The U.S. State
Department issued an official statement Tuesday afternoon:
"The United States supports the U.N. 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 this Statement that
condemns human rights violations based on sexual orientation
and gender identity wherever they occur. The United States is
an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human
rights abuses around the world. 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 United States
originally did not join more than 60 countries that signed the
historic declaration in December, putting the U.S. in the
company of gay rights opponents such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
Uganda, and the Vatican. The Bush administration rejected the
non-binding declaration on technical legal grounds concerning
federal and state jurisdiction over gay rights.
The exact statement of
the U.N. follows:
Petition "For a
universal decriminalization of homosexuality"
Considering
The Universal
declaration of Human Rights
Article 1.
All human beings are
born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed
with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to
all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration,
without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language, religion, political, or other opinion, national, or
social origin, property, birth, or other status.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right
to life, liberty, and security of person.
Article 12.
No one shall be
subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family,
home, or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and
reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law
against such interference or attacks.
Considering
The International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted by General
Assembly resolution 2200A [XXI] of 16 December 1966, entry into
force 23 March 1976)
Article 17
1. No one shall be
subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his
privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to unlawful
attacks on his honour and reputation.
2. Everyone has the
right to the protection of the law against such interference or
attacks.
Considering
The Human Rights
Committee's decision in
Toonen v. Australia
(04 April 1994)
We ask the United
Nations to request a universal abolition of the so-called
"crime of homosexuality," of all "sodomy laws," and
laws against so-called "unnatural acts" in all the
countries where they still exist.
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