Wed 21 Sep 2016 In: International News View at Wayback View at NDHA
In his final speech to the United Nations, US president Barack Obama has told the world that continuing persecution gay people will undermine the gains of civilisation. In a powerful speech addressing the state of the world, Obama took aim at cultures which use traditional and religious values as justification for jailing or attacking glbti people. "If our religion leads us to persecute those of another faith, if we jail or beat people who are gay, if our traditions lead us to prevent girls from going to school, if we discriminate on the basis of race or tribe or ethnicity, then the fragile bonds of civilization will fray," he said. "The world is too small, we are too packed together, for us to be able to resort to those old ways of thinking." Obama has been a strong supporter of glbti equality and his public support for marriage equality for same-sex couples is credited with opening the doors wide for marriage equality law changes in most US states and in other nations including New Zealand.
Credit: gayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 21st September 2016 - 12:07pm