US to Sign UN Gay Rights Declaration

Decision to back global decriminalization reverses Bush policy
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 18, 2009 3:31 AM CDT
US to Sign UN Gay Rights Declaration
President Barack Obama delivers remarks to small business owners, community lenders and members of Congress at the White House earlier this week.   (Ron Edmonds)

The Obama administration will endorse a UN declaration calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality that President Bush refused to sign, reports AP. The US was the only western government that refused to back the declaration last year, triggering stinging criticism of the Bush administration. Some 70 UN nations still outlaw homosexuality, and homosexual acts can be punished by execution in several countries.
(More gay rights stories.)

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