The Times They Are A Changing…

Back during the Bush administration the United Nations past a resolution that including sexual orientation and gender identity as a Human Right. However, Bush refused to be signator of the resolution, claiming that it infringed upon the rights of the United States and also on religious grounds. It wasn’t until President Obama came to office that the U.S. signed the resolution. A setback occurred in November of this year when African, Middle East and Caribbean nations were able to remove sexual orientation from a UN resolution condemning unjustified executions. However, through the efforts of the Obama administration, sexual orientation was restored…

UN Restores Sexual Orientation Reference To Violence Measure, After U.S. Push
Radio Free Europe
December 22, 2010
By Nikola Krastev

The United States has successfully persuaded the United Nations to include "sexual orientation" as a category of vulnerable populations whose targeted killings the world body condemns.

The resolution was adopted by the General Assembly on a vote of 122 in favor and 0 against, with 59 nations abstaining.

Controversy broke out after African and Arab states successfully stripped the resolution of a reference to killings for reasons of "sexual orientation," which was included along with killings for racial, national, ethnic, religious, or linguistic reasons, and killings of refugees, indigenous people, and other groups.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said she was "incensed" at the move and vowed to restore the original language in a U.S.-sponsored amendment, which was adopted.

Human Rights should not be at the whim of a president, human rights are basic rights for all people.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

There is no “asterisk” that says “except for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people”

President Bush was wrong not to sign the UN resolution based on religious grounds. Religious law has been used to deny rights to people throughout history. It was used to enslave blacks, to deny women their human rights and it is being used to deny LGBT people their human rights also.