US Endorses UN Declaration Homosexuality 美支持联合国同性恋

US Endorses UN Declaration Calling for De-Criminalizing Homosexuality
Source: http://news.iciba.com/a/20090319/548751.shtml

By David Gollust
State Department
18 March 2009

The Obama administration is reversing the position of its predecessor and is endorsing a U.N. General Assembly statement sponsored by France and the Netherlands condemning human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

The statement, aimed at criminal penalties against homosexuality around the world, was signed by 66 U.N. member states when it came up for a vote in the assembly in December, including all member countries of the European Union and regional U.S. allies such as Japan, Australia and Israel. It was widely opposed by Muslim countries.

The Bush administration refused to sign the measure on grounds that it might commit the U.S. federal government to override laws by the individual states on issues such as discrimination by landlords or employers.

However, Acting State Department Spokesman Robert Wood told reporters that an interagency review by the Obama administration found that endorsing the U.N. declaration does not commit the U.S. federal government to legal obligations.

He said the United States is pleased to join other countries that have declared themselves against rights violations based on sexual orientation.

The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world. As such, we join 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, Wood said.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Brussels earlier this month that human rights is one of the pillars of U.S. foreign policy, and that the new administration takes persecution and discrimination against gays and lesbians very seriously.

Nearly 60 countries, including members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference as well as Russia and China, oppose the U.N. declaration. A rival statement presented by Syria said protecting homosexuality could lead to social normalization and possibly legalization of deplorable acts, including pedophilia.

According to the sponsors of the anti-discrimination document, consensual same-sex relations are a criminal offense in more than 70 countries, and in several countries homosexual acts can be punishable by death.

美支持联合国呼吁同性恋合法化

2009年3月18日

美国星期三正式支持联合国呼吁将世界各地同性恋合法化的宣言。布什政府去年拒绝签署这个声明。

*事关人权*

奥巴马政府改变了上一届政府的立场，表示支持由法国及荷兰提出的联合国大会声明，谴责以性取向或性别认定为理由践踏人权的行为。

这份声明针对世界各地以刑事罪惩罚同性恋的做法，在去年12月表决时已经有66个联合国成员签署，包括所有欧盟成员国及美国的区域盟国例如日本、澳大利亚和以色列。穆斯林国家则普遍反对这项声明。

布什政府拒绝签署这个声明，理由是这样做可能使美国联邦政府必须在关于房东和雇主的歧视问题上推翻一些州的法律。

不过美国国务院代理发言人伍德告诉记者，奥巴马政府经过几个机构的联合审查以后认为支持联合国的宣示并不会使联邦政府承担法律上的义务。他说，美国很“乐于”加入其它宣布反对以性取向为理由践踏人权的国家的行列。

他说：“美国对于维护人权以及批评世界各地践踏人权行为一向直言不讳。正因为如此，我们加入了其它支持这个声明的国家的行列，而且我们将继续提醒其它国家在所有国际场合尊重所有人人权的重要性。”

*国务卿：人权是美国外交政策支柱之一*

美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿这个月早些时候在布鲁塞尔说，人权是美国外交政策的支柱之一，美国新政府严肃看待迫害及歧视同性恋问题。

*中国等多国反对*

将近60个国家，包括伊斯兰会议组织以及俄罗斯和中国都反对联合国的这个宣示。叙利亚针锋相对提出的声明说，保护同性恋可能导致让原本应该受到谴责的行为，包括恋童癖在内，被社会正常化和合法化。

联合国的这份反歧视同性恋声明说，在70多个国家里，双方同意的同性恋关系属于刑事犯罪，在几个国家里，同性恋行为可以被处以死刑。