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Barack Obama has declared that he will endorse the UN declaration calling for the worldwide decriminalisation of homosexuality, reports the Associated Press.

Former president George W Bush refused to sign the declaration in December 2008, making the USA the only western country that refused to support the declaration.

In December the declaration was signed by 66 countries, including all 27 European Union members, Japan, Australia and Mexico.

An official for the USA said the Obama administration had decided to sign the declaration to demonstrate the United States’ support for human rights.

“The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Congress was still being notified of the decision.

“As such, we join with the 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.”

The official added that the United States was concerned about “violence and human rights abuses against gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual individuals” and was also “troubled by the criminalization of sexual orientation in many countries.”

“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’.”

In December 2008 Bush refused to sign the declaration because it would contravene some US laws. In some states, landlords and private employers are allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation; on the federal level, gay people are not allowed to serve openly in the military.

According to negotiators, the Bush team had concerns that the declaration could commit the federal government on matters that fall under state jurisdiction.

The Obama administration has not indicated how supporting the UN declaration will affect the treatment of gay people within the USA.

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