US Senators Show Support for Uganda's LGBT Community

Last week, the U.S. Senate was unanimous as it passed a resolution calling on members of the Ugandan Parliament to reject the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill and to repeal similar laws aimed at discriminating against individuals based on their sexual orientation.

Co-sponsors of the Senate resolution stressed the “universality of human rights,” while sending a message to Secretary of State Clinton to more closely monitor human rights abuses that are motivated by sexual orientation. We have been a part of the fight against the Anti-Homosexuality Bill and have expressed serious concerns over the bill, joining other human rights groups in calling for the bill’s repeal. The passing of the Senate’s resolution is a victory for human rights defenders and a boost for our calls for equality and human rights.

Widespread international criticism of the bill has led the Ugandan Parliament to establish a committee to review the bill, which recommended changes be made to the bill but without actually calling for the bill’s repeal. The bill is currently before the Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Committee. The Committee has given no indication of when they would begin to debate the bill but we are continuing to monitor this very closely.

Msia Clark, Uganda Country Specialist, contributed to this post

AIUSA welcomes a lively and courteous discussion that follow our Community Guidelines. Comments are not pre-screened before they post but AIUSA reserves the right to remove any comments violating our guidelines.