I woke up to great news today. A concerned reader sent me an email containing an article from December 19 that I had not seen yet about the harsh anti-gay bill currently in the Ugandan parliament. The new article quotes a US State Department spokesperson Jon Tollefson saying that the Ugandan president had given them assurances that he was committed to blocking the bill.
The bill among other harsh anti-gay penalties also outlined that any homosexual found to be suffering from HIV be put to death.
Read my original blog entry about the Bill: http://www.dailyniteowl.com/wordpress/index.php/2009/11/29/uganda-takes-a-step-back-towards-the-dark-ages/
Yoweri Museveni – the President of Uganda – has repeatedly assured US officials that he would make sure the bill does not become law. Apparently, he had pledged his unwillingness to allow the bill to pass as early as October. According to DC Agenda, ” Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson received this assurance from Museveni on Oct. 24 during an in-person meeting with the president in Uganda and again during a phone conversation with Museveni on Dec. 4, Tollefson said.”
The bill is currently being debated in the Ugandan parliament and could see final debates in January. However, human rights activists had stepped up pressure on the State Department, the Ugandan government and the United Nations to stop the legislation from becoming law. Even though the bill is widely expected to gain sufficient votes to pass the Ugandan parliament, President Mouseveni has told State Department officials that he would not sign it into law.
The US State Department has made it clear to the Ugandan president that the bill was unacceptable.
Thank you State Department for standing up for human rights! Let us keep our fingers crossed!
Original Article on DC Agenda: http://dcagenda.com/2009/12/19/ugandan-president-committed-to-blocking-anti-gay-bill-officials/
Recent Developments from Rachel Maddow: http://www.gaypolitics.com/2009/12/23/maddow-uganda-pres-five-gopers-oppose-anti-gay-bill/
