It’s truly shocking to me that while gay marriage is being
legalized in countries like the US and France, Uganda is choosing to move in
the other direction. You may have already heard about the bill being debated in
Uganda. The media calls it the “Kill the Gays bill” and officially it’s called the
“anti-homosexuality bill”, but whatever it’s called it is appalling and the
thought that it may get passed is frightening.
With estimates that there are at least 500,000 gay people
living in Uganda, activists there are said to be preparing in case they need to
start evacuating suddenly. Only 4 months ago they were celebrating the success
of Uganda’s first-ever pride parade, with almost 100 people in attendance.
There are a lot of factors involved in this story, including
a history of European colonization and evangelism that is directly linked to
Ugandan views on homosexuality. But to pass a bill that encourages violence
against a group of people is inexcusable. All governments should have to
protect their citizens and this bill does the opposite.
The purpose of the bill is to “prohibit and penalize
homosexual behaviour”; homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda with current
penalties that go up to 14 years in prison. The anti-homosexuality bill
originally included death penalties for certain “offences”. It was first introduced
3 years ago and after international pressure from governments, NGOs, LGBT and
human rights activists some revisions have been made, and now it is up for
debate again. The revised bill has not been released so there is still a lot of
speculation about whether or not the death penalty is still included.
The anti-homosexuality bill proposes the same punishment for
sexually assaulting a minor as it does for parents or people in positions of
authority who engage in same-sex relationships (in the original the punishment
for either of these was death). There is also a lot of language about protecting children and youth from predators. By throwing pedophiles in with gays, they
stigmatize homosexuality and it helps get the bill passed faster. Well, if you’ve
been following Canadian politics this strategy should be familiar; it’s the
same argument that REAL Women of Canada presented this week at hearings about a
bill in Canada that would protect trans human rights.
I’ll be watching closely to see whether or not the
international community will be able to prevent this bill from being passed.
You can help by signing this online petition and, if you’re in New York there
will be a peaceful protest at noon TODAY (Friday, November 30th) Uganda Mission
at 336 East 45th Street.
Guest post by Eden Hagos
