Contact: Don Feder, Media Coordinator, World Congress of Families, 508-405-1337, dfeder@rcn.com

MEDIA ADVISORY, Mar. 20 /Christian Newswire/ -- World Congress of Families Managing Director Larry Jacobs said he was dismayed but not surprised by the decision of the Obama administration to sign a United Nations (UN) statement concerning -- but not limited to -- the worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality.

Jacobs observed: "When the French-sponsored statement was introduced at the United Nations last December, the Vatican's permanent observer noted that its emphasis on 'non-discrimination ... regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity' could be used to pressure member-states to recognize gay marriage and other special rights."

The measure also condemns "harassment, discrimination, exclusion, stigmatization, and prejudice" which are "directed against persons in all countries in the world because of sexual orientation or gender identity."

"Violence and harassment in all forms should be condemned, but this special rights measure is not needed by the United Nations," Jacobs noted.  "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) has already been signed by the nations of the world and is supposed to be used by the UN to protect the rights of all persons from conception to natural death.  Will this special rights measure be used to push for homosexuals serving openly in the U.S. military?" Jacobs inquired. "Will it be interpreted as a mandate for gay adoption?"

Jacobs charged that the decision to endorse the statement was part of this administration's overall agenda.  Under President Obama, the U.S. has done a 180-degree turn, endorsing anti-family measures that the Bush administration opposed, both internationally and domestically.

This includes repeal of the Mexico City Policy on Abortion, repeal of federal restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research, a full-court press for the so-called Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) and the recent announcement that the White House will push for repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

"Signing the U.N. homosexual rights statement is very much in keeping with this administration's anti-family and anti-faith actions so far," Jacobs commented.

WCF is preparing for World Congress of Families V, in Amsterdam, August 10-12 (www.worldcongress.nl).

For more information on the World Congress of Families, visit www.worldcongress.org.  To schedule an interview with Managing Director Larry Jacobs, contact Communications Director Don Feder at 508-405-1337, or dfeder@rcn.com.

The World Congress of Families (WCF) is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and people of goodwill from more than 60  countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society.  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Allan Carlson and is a project of The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society in Rockford, Illinois (www.profam.org).  To date, there have been four World Congresses of Families -- Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004) and Warsaw, Poland (2007).  A fitth World Congress of Families will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, August 10-12, 2009.