Death in Uganda

[IrishRua]

I'm not sure if there are many of you guys aware about what's happening in Uganda at the moment.

President Museveni is hoping to introduce the death penalty to those who openly (or suspected to be) gay.

Here's a pretty good article about it to get yourself up to date;

http://madikazemi.blogspot.com/2011/05/uganda-kill-gays-bill-will-be-passed.html

And if any of you have a second to spare, pop along here and sign the petition against it;

http://www.allout.org/en/petition/uganda

 

[Experiencedguy]

Hi Rua. I see from your profile that you are too young to know much about Uganda, but it has always been one of the worse countries in the world for self destruction. For you to learn more about the country, may I suggest you view "The Last King of Scotland". It is a very long movie (about three hours), but then, if you get the DVD, check out all the 'special features'. Idi Amin was one of the worse dictators in the world. And, if you doubt the authenticity of the movie, I remember watching his 'press release and interview' on the news, way back around 1967. Not only was he a cannibal, he killed about 600,000 of his own people. Actually, Uganda is moving upward, they are only killing gays, not everybody (I know, this is a very sad statement to make). I'm not trying to upset anybody by this post -- just trying to let you know how sorry this country really is. No hate mail, please.

 

[Wolfman1982]

It looks like the kill the gay bill is not on the table at the moment

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.co...m-parliament-agenda/politics/2011/05/11/19902

 

[Stella_Omega]

Dear friends,

Uganda's anti-gay law has failed! It looked sure to pass last week, but after 1.6 million petition signatures delivered to Parliament, tens of thousands of phone calls to our own governments, hundreds of media stories about our campaign and a massive global outcry, Ugandan politicians dropped the bill!

It was down to the wire - religious extremists tried to push the bill through on Wednesday, and then convened an unprecedented emergency session of Parliament on Friday. But each time, within hours, we reacted. A huge congratulations to everyone who signed, called, forwarded and donated to this campaign - with our help, thousands of innocent people in Uganda's gay community do not wake up this morning facing execution for whom they chose to love.

Frank Mugisha, a courageous leader of the gay community in Uganda sent us this message:

"Brave Ugandan LGBT activists and millions of people around the world have stood together and faced down this horrendous anti-homosexuality bill.The support from the Avaaz global community has tipped the scales to prevent this Bill going forward. Global solidarity has made a huge difference"

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs' Office also wrote to Avaaz:

"Many thanks. As you know, thanks to a very large extent to the intensive lobbying and combined effort of you, other civil society representatives, EU and other governments, plus our delegation and embassies on the ground the Bill was not presented to the Parliament this morning."

This fight is not over. The extremists behind this bill could try again within just 18 months. But this is the second time we've helped defeat this bill, and we'll keep going until the hate-mongers give up.

Transforming the deeper causes of ignorance and hatred behind homophobia is an historic, long term struggle, one of the great causes of our generation. But Uganda has become a front line in that struggle, and a powerful symbol. The victory there echoes across many other places where hope is desperately needed, showing that kindness, love, tolerance and respect can defeat hatred and ignorance. Again, a huge thanks to all who made it happen.

With enormous gratitude and admiration for this amazing community,

Ricken, Emma, Iain, Alice, Giulia, Saloni and the whole Avaaz team.


Media highlights:

Anti-gay bill shelved:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13392723

Avaaz's response to the outcome in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/13/uganda-anti-gay-bill-shelved

Ugandan President did not back bill because of "criticism of human rights groups":
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/05/13/international/i042638D37.DTL

Anti-gay bill delayed amid outcry:
http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Uganda-shelves-anti-gay-bill-20110513

Uganda's "kill the gays" bill defeated:
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE74C0HP20110513


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