Progress had already been miserably slow when in 2003 Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, became an Anglican bishop in the US and Pope John Paul II suspended the commission's work.
The choice of John perez to take over as the new speaker of California's state assembly later this month has been hailed as something of a breakthrough-but only because Mr Perez is openly gay.
U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned the murder of Bangladeshi gay rights activist Xulhaz Mannan, who was an employee of the U. S. embassy in Dhaka.