Friday, August 6, 2010

Anti-gay bill stalls in Uganda


Good stuff! The horrible Anti-gay Ugandan bill is stalling in parliamentary committee and it possibly could fail in the next session (let's hope so)

Here's the scoop:

Almost 10 months later, the bill remains with the Ugandan Parliament's Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, never having made it to a vote.

The bill, if passed, calls for the death penalty in certain circumstances including, having same-sex relations while being HIV positive and engaging in gay sex with a minor.

Intense international lobbying urged a “softening” of the penalties within the bill and the Swedish government warned it would reduce its financial aid to Uganda if the bill were passed.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni distanced himself from the Anti-Homosexual Bill in January 2010. Subsequently, he created a government commission to investigate passage of the anti-gay bill.

In May, the commission advised that the bill be withdrawn from parliament.

I'm sending positive vibes their way.

1 comment:

SteveA said...

Wake up Africa - South Africa is quite progressive with their legislation on gay marriage and rights - I am hoping the rest follow.

What is it about these "death penalties" associated with "gay/homosexual sex/rights"....doesn't Africa have bigger battles to fight...starting with the way they think about gays.

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.