Ugandan homosexuals to face death penalty

I can’t believe we haven’t blogged about this horrendous piece of news yet. In Uganda, homosexuality is already punishable by life imprisonment. However, a Bill that was put before parliament in October this year, makes homosexuality punishable by death in certain circumstances – e.g., if you are gay and HIV positive. It also broadens the definition of homosexuality, and makes it a punishable offence to aid and abet someone in their homosexuality, e.g., you can be imprisoned for three years if you know that someone is gay and fail to report it. You can read the Sexual Minorities Uganda report here.

Now, that’s pretty horrendous. But disgustingly, the authorities who drafted the bill were inspired by talks by a right-wing US Christian group called Family Life Network, who spread anti-gay hatred, linking homosexuality to paedophilia. They also claim that gay-ness can be cured. A book they draw on is Richard Cohen’s Coming Out Straight – a shabby mess of a tome, full of misinformation and anti-gay hatred.

Rachel Maddow has reported on these events, and you can watch her shows online. Here’s Rachel M interviewing Richard Cohen – or as Boing Boing nicely puts it, ‘tearing him a new asshole’.

UPDATE: reader Helena sent us this link to a news report covering the proposed Ugandan law. It also covers the ‘corrective rape’ of lesbians in South Africa. The link to US religious groups – particularly the Family Life Network – is highlighted.