Later On

From the Center for American Progress:

Last December, President Bush refused to support an unprecedented U.N. declaration calling for a worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality. Sixty-six countries — including all 27 European Union members, Japan, Australia, and Mexico — signed the declaration "to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests, or detention." The United States joined China, Russia, the Vatican, and members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in opposition. At the time, human rights advocates slammed Bush  for "trying to come up with Christmas presents for the religious right." But in a sharp reversal from Bush, the Obama administration has "notified the declaration’s French sponsors that the [U.S.] wants to be added as a supporter." "In the words of the United States Supreme Court, the right to be free from criminalization on the basis of sexual orientation ‘has been accepted as an integral part of human freedom,’ " an official said yesterday. This marks the second time that President Obama has signaled his outright rejection of Bush-era attitudes toward gay rights. Last month, the United States supported a separate proposal to condemn "all forms of discrimination and all other human rights violations based on sexual orientation" at the U.N.’s Durban Review Conference on racism and xenophobia in Geneva.