November 21, 2012, New York, NY –  In response to today’s announcement that the Ugandan parliament has reintroduced its notorious anti-homosexuality bill, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:

 

The Center for Constitutional Rights strongly condemns the Ugandan parliament’s reintroduction of its notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Whether the bill is passed into law or not, it intensifies a climate of hatred and persecution of the Ugandan LGBTI community, where activists have been outed in the press, attacked and killed. While we have not yet seen the current version of the bill, earlier versions have led to the death penalty for homosexual acts between consenting adults, criminalized writing, speaking, demonstrating, or otherwise advocating for LGBTI rights, and required extended prison sentences for anyone  – including family members, doctors and clergy – who does not turn a suspected member of the LGBTI community over to the authorities.

 

The reintroduction of this bill comes, as it has several times in the past, at a time of political turmoil in Uganda.  It serves as a convenient distraction from foreign aid embezzlement scandals, a pension scam involving a high-level government official and a damaging UN report on Uganda’s role in the Congo.

 

U.S. evangelicals have played a major role in fomenting this hate as well as creating the legislative strategy, which puts a special onus on the U.S. government to publicly condemn the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The Center for Constitutional Rights stands with Sexual Minorities Uganda and everyone in Uganda fighting for the rights of LGBTI people, and we join international calls for this bill to be stopped once and for all.