Obama Signing Up For U.N.’s Gay Decriminalization. So?

Obama

The United States hasn’t seen eye to eye with the rest of the world, even the Western World, on many things. Global warming. Preemptive strikes. Letting The Real Housewives of Orange County be renewed. But much of that went down under the Bush administration. Now, you might have heard, a new regime is in place, and Camp Barack Obama is ready to agree with much of the world on this: being gay is not a crime.

Which is why Obama plans to have America sign the United Nations declaration calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality, which his predecessor refused to get on board with in December, when 66 of 192 member states signed.

In all fairness, this “declaration” does little. There is no means of enforcement. It’s a broad sweeping statement, but does not constitute any real action. There are still 70 nations belonging to the U.N. that make being gay a crime; in some, you can even be put to death for it. And it’s not like peacekeeping forces are en route to Nigeria to stop it.

But recognize Obama’s signature for what it is: a reversal of course from Bush’s eight years of hatemongering. Obama still isn’t a full partner in civil rights — he has yet to give his full support to gay marriage — but it’s a clear step in the right direction. And the direction of right.

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