U.S. President Barack Obama has told U.S. officials to consider how countries treat its gay and lesbian populations when making decisions about allocating foreign aid, The Guardian reports.

In the first ever US government strategy to deal with human rights abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) citizens abroad, a presidential memo issued on Tuesday, December 6, instructs agencies using foreign aid to promote such rights.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the American position clear to diplomats from around the world gathered at the United Nations in Geneva: "Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights."

Gay and lesbian lobby groups have reported an increase in human rights abuses in Africa and parts of the Middle East.

Obama is among international leaders who have condemned a bill proposed in Uganda which would make some homosexual acts a crime punishable by death. The Ugandan parliament has recently re-opened the debate on the bill, which had been abandoned after an international outcry.