Uganda anti-homosexuality bill decried

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS) is among 46 interfaith endorsers of a letter decrying “the alarming increase in human rights violations targeting sexual orientation and gender identity, including, most recently, the anti-homosexuality legislation now under debate in Uganda.”

The letter, sent to members of the U.S. Congress last week, was signed by 14 Christian faith groups, 12 national Jewish organizations and eight Jewish federations among others. The letter was coordinated by American Jewish World Service.

Endorsers urge Congress to oppose the criminalization of, and violence toward, LGBTcommunities and individuals.

As faith leaders in the United States, the letter’s endorsers urge Congress to oppose the criminalization of, and violence toward, Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) communities and individuals by signing on to letters to President Barack Obama and Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

The congressional letters are being circulated by the House of Representatives Equality Caucus, chaired by Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Jared Polis (D-Col.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

A similar letter is being circulated by Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) in the Senate.

Uganda anti-homosexuality bill

The proposed Uganda anti-homosexuality bill criminalizes homosexuality and expands the penal code to punish “aggravated homosexuality,” including activity by “serial offenders” or those who are HIV-positive. Among its many “cruel provisions,” a person who fails to report within 24 hours the identity of anyone perceived to be LGBT or who supports the human rights of LGBT individuals would be subject to up to three years imprisonment.

The proposed Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill criminalizes homosexuality.

The Uganda bill also criminalizes the “promotion of homosexuality,” which includes providing funding to organizations that serve LGBT people.

According to the letter to Congress, this measure would “severely threaten HIV/AIDS prevention, services and treatment, making the work of groups seeking to prevent the spread of HIV nearly impossible.”

Local and international pressure has led the Ugandan government to a non-binding verbal agreement to remove the death penalty and life imprisonment for those convicted of homosexual acts from the bill. “With or without the death penalty provision, however, the legislation remains one of the most abhorrent manifestations of a worldwide escalation of violence and human rights violations against sexual minorities,” declares the letter to Congress.

Alarming trend

Uganda’s proposed legislation is “logical evolution of alarming trend,” according to the letter. “More than two thirds of African countries have laws criminalizing consensual same-sex acts,” the letter points out. “Even nations that do not have similar legislation encourage human rights violators by failing in their duty to protect their citizens' right to security and creating a culture of impunity.”

The gang rape and fatal stabbing of a prominent South African black lesbian activist and sentencing nine Senegalese men involved in HIV prevention services for gay men to eight years in prison for “engaging in acts against the order of nature” are cited in the letter as two incidents illustrating the type of violations occurring with devastating frequency. “Arbitrary arrests, assaults, intimidation, sexual violence and murder against LGBT people are the norm in many parts of the developing world,” the letter points out.

“We strongly believe that the issues at stake are larger than the specific concerns of any one group in society,” the letter states, “but rather represent a grave threat to human rights for all.”

The endorsers say that their moral traditions compel them not to remain silent whenever basic human rights such as equal recognition under the law, the right to life, assembly, association, expression, privacy, and non-discrimination are denied.

Other faith groups represented by the endorsers include American Friends Service Committee, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, Presbyterian Church (USA), Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Unitarian Universalist Assn. of Congregations, American Jewish Committee, National Council of Jewish Women, Anti-Defamation League, Disciples Center for Public Witness and Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Editor's note: The letter and all its endorsers can be downloaded in .pdf format at Uganda bill.