Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill means death for gays and those with HIV

When I woke up this morning I was able to watch President Obama accept his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway. In his acceptance speech, he spoke to critics who think he should not receive the award, and he spoke of ways to build a lasting peace. He said, “peace is not merely the absence of visible conflict. Only a just peace based upon the inherent rights and dignity of every individual can truly be lasting.” It is not just a day of celebration for President Obama, but also for human rights. Today marked the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, at the United Nations, discussions were being held to celebrate the progress that has been made and also to highlight problems that still exist. One panel focused on rights violations on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, with panelists from around the world discussing the hardships they have faced in their lives. Two panelists, Rev. Kapya Kaoma, an Anglican priest, and Victor Mukasa, co-founder of Sexual Minorities Uganda or SMUG, spoke out against the Anti-Homosexuality bill in Uganda.

Inside the ECOSOC Chamber at the UN Headquarters.

In 2005, state agents raided Mukasa’s home in Uganda without a search warrant, looking for evidence of homosexuality. Mukasa and a friend, were arrested and put in jail, where they were beaten and treated inhumanely. In recent months, Mukasa says the situation for LGBT Ugandans has worsened. Newspapers are outing people and publishing their home or work addresses, and more people are being beaten and thrown in jail.

While homosexuality is already illegal under colonial-era laws, the Anti-Homosexuality bill proposed in October calls for the death penalty or life in prison for those guilty of the crimes. This includes people who test positive for HIV, who could be executed. Under the bill, doctors and priests would have to report any suspicions of homosexuality to officials. The law even extends to Ugandan citizens living outside the country.

On Monday, U.S. Christian leaders released this statement: “Regardless of the diverse theological views of our religious traditions regarding the morality of homosexuality, in our churches, communities and families, we seek to embrace our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters as God’s children worthy of respect and love.”

Wednesday night, the minister of ethics and integrity said, in an interview with Bloomberg, that a revised version of the bill would drop the death penalty and life imprisonment. Mukasa and Kaoma say this is not enough, the bill itself still is against basic human rights for all people. Mukasa pleaded during the panel at the UN today, “We want to be recognized as human beings, because we are human beings. We want to be treated with dignity…we want to fulfill our dreams… we want to live without fear, in peace, and not thinking every morning that we might end up in prison or graves at the end of the day. We want to be free to laugh, and to be loved” adding that these are “basic human rights that one shouldn’t work hard for, but should have for the near fact that they were born human, came into this world human.”