Obama Administration Takes on LGBT Rights at the United Nations

by Michael Jones · 2009-02-19 10:18:00 UTC
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UNBy many accounts, President George W. Bush's interaction with the United Nations was nothing short of an embarrassment on many accounts, whether it was in how the Bush administration pitched the Iraq war to the international community, or how it nominated firebrand John Bolton to be the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, or in how the Bush administration joined with Sudan and Saudi Arabia to vote against a UN statement calling for the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality.

While Sudan and Saudi Arabia may have been the company that the Bush administration wanted to keep at the United Nations, that's no longer the case under President Obama.  Especially when it comes to the issue of LGBT rights.  According to UN Watch, the United States has signed on with a number of other Western countries to a proposal that would condemn discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Do you hear that?  That's the sound of the United States' reputation improving in this world.

The official proposition, which was introduced as part of a review conference on racism and xenophobia in Geneva, Switzerland, is worded:

"...Recognizes that experiences of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance are aggravated and intersect with discrimination on grounds including sexual orientation and gender identity, and condemns all forms of discrimination and all other human rights violations based on these grounds."

That proposal caused a number of anti-LGBT countries to go ballistic, including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, and Nigeria.  But for a change, isn't it nice to see the United States actually falling on the side of equal rights?  Kudos to Obama and to his UN Ambassador, Susan Rice, for beginning to change the tide of how the U.S. will respond to LGBT issues in the global community.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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