Along with the Vatican and several Muslim countries, the United States refused to sign some sort of benign declaration presented at the United Nations "calling for worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality." Written by France and the Netherlands, said declaration was signed by all 27 European Union members, Japan, Australia, Mexico and three dozen other countries. The US was the sole Western country to holdout. One reason the US withheld its John Hancock is because " [i]n numerous states, landlords and private employers are allowed to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation; on the federal level, gays are not allowed to serve openly in the military." And also, because of this. The declaration, however, in keeping with the United Nations' impressively ineffective style, is just symbolic.