What Uganda and the United States Have In Common

Uganda and the United States both start with the letter "U". They share a more insidious similarity as well. The governments of Uganda and the United States both reduce LGBT people to second class citizenship. Both governments are manipulated by religious leaders who consider homosexuality an abomination.

The proposed government plan for LGBT people and their allies in Uganda involves the "eradication of homosexuality" and withdrawal from international treaties or protocols that recognize the human rights of gay people. Ugandans who speak against the bill will also be labeled gay and targeted for persecution.

The Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 would jail consenting adults who engage in gay sex. It would give life sentences to people in same-sex marriages. It would also extradite gay Ugandans living abroad and prosecute them.

David Bahati, the writer of this bill, calls it a "very wonderful piece of legislation".

American evangelicals can be blamed for encouraging Ugandan homophobia. Their limited imaginations did not envision an African government taking the big step. In the United States, human beings have many protections under the law, while in Uganda they do not. This is why Americans must be careful as to what they preach in Uganda.

If you would like to stay current on LGBT rights in Uganda, bookmark Gay Rights Uganda to watch how our brothers and sisters in Uganda are living. Do not think for one moment that LGBT people in the United States are safe from discrimination, when our own Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty expresses regret over his passing of an LGBT anti-discrimination bill because it protects "cross-dressers".