Horrifying Link Uncovered Between Group of US Legislators, Ugandan Hate Bill

LGBT, NewsBites, World — By Speak Equal on November 28, 2009 at 6:13 pm

The African nation of Uganda is weighing a bill that would impose the death penalty on HIV positive men who have committed what it calls “aggravated homosexuality.”

As if that were not shocking enough, a U.S. author is claiming that a secretive group of American politicians appear to be a driving force in seeing the proposal become law.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009, heavily supported by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, was first read in October, triggering a wave of condemnation. According to the gay blog Queerty, Joann Lockard, public affairs officer at the Kampala, Uganda embassy, said the law would “constitute a significant step backwards for the protection of human rights in Uganda.”

She added: “We urge states to take all necessary measures to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests, or detention.”

While that condemnation by a U.S. official would seem reflexive, others in U.S. political circles are providing financial and political support for the bill’s sponsors, according to author Jeff Sharlet.

Sharlet’s book “The Family” is an investigative look at a secretive group of fundamentalist Christian lawmakers in Washington, D.C. In a recent interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, he broke the news that The Family’s influence in Uganda is rife.

“[The] legislator that introduced the bill, a guy named David Bahati, is a member of The Family,” he said. “He appears to be a core member of The Family. He works, he organizes their Ugandan National Prayer Breakfast and oversees a African sort of student leadership program designed to create future leaders for Africa, into which The Family has poured millions of dollars working through a very convoluted chain of linkages passing the money over to Uganda.”

And how did Sharlet discover the connection? [READ MORE]

Tags: David Bahati, Death Penalty, GLBT, Hate, Hate Crimes, Homosexual Acts, Homosexual Behavior, Homosexuality, LGBT, Terry Gross, The Family, Uganda, Yoweri Museveni