Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill is still in play, and its connection to American Evangelical leaders has become clearer. Scott Lively, who is profiled on GLAAD’s CAP page, led an “anti-homosexuality” conference in Kampala, Uganda in 2009. He is now taking credit for much of the bill in an article published on World Net Daily. At the time of the conference, Lively was heavily criticized by the international community for meeting directly with Ugandan government officials and pushing for what has become known as the “Kill the Gays” bill.
Yesterday, the Ugandan Parliament added a bill to its schedule that would sentence LGBT people in Uganda to death. According to news reports, the bill might be debated as early as today or over the next several weeks.
Pastor Joseph Tolton published an op-ed in Religion Dispatches that explained the harm in “hactivism” for LGBT people in Uganda. The op-ed was in reaction to the news that an LGBT supportive group called “Anonymous” had hacked into several African government websites, posting messages of affirmation for LGBT people.
Today is the one-year anniversary of the murder of David Kato, a trailblazing Ugandan LGBT advocate. GLAAD encourages all people to observe a moment of remembrance in honor of David Kato, and encourages all congregations this weekend to recommit to being a welcoming space LGBT people of faith.
Last Thursday, the Global Post told the heartbreaking story of a Ugandan gay couple, Alex and Michael, who fled to Kenya to escape anti-gay persecution and are living in a refugee camp. LGBT people around the world face extraordinary amounts of violence and discrimination like Michael and Alex have, much of which is sanctioned by law.
GLAAD was among the many who participated in the Compass to Compassion United Nations Consultation to address global homophobia and criminalization of the lives of LGBT people and its roots in American fundamentalism.
More than 1,500 New Yorkers gathered today in Manhattan to mourn the death of a 32 year-old gay man, who was shot down on Friday just blocks away from the historic Stonewall Inn in an apparent act of anti-gay bias.
