Ugandan Ambassador, Stop Passage of Uganda’s ‘Kill the Gays’ Bill

On Friday, May 6, 2011, the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill re-emerged in Uganda’s parliament. By all accounts, the bill is being fast-tracked and could be law by the end of this week. Write to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Ugandan Ambassador to the U.S. to urge them to do everything they can to stop the bill in its tracks.

The anti-gay bill would impose the death penalty for a second conviction of consensual sex between two people of the same gender. It would also require family members, medical personnel, clergy and others to report people they suspect of being gay to the authorities or face long sentences of imprisonment. For more information about the bill, view CCR's press release from May 11, 2011.

The Center for Constitutional Rights condemns the efforts of anti-gay parliamentarians in Uganda to push through the notorious “Kill the Gays” bill as well as the government’s violent crackdown on political protests contesting worsening economic insecurity. We stand with Sexual Minorities Uganda and all friends and colleagues in Uganda who are fighting for human rights in calling for the bill to be stopped.

Subject:

Your Letter:

H.E. Professor Perezi K. Kamunanwire
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Tel: (202) 726 4758
Fax: (202) 726 1727
pkamunanwire@ugandaembassyus.org

Dear Ambassador Kamunanwire:

I am writing to condemn the efforts of members of Uganda’s parliament to pass the notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill. I stand with Sexual Minorities Uganda and all friends and colleagues in Uganda who are fighting for human rights, including those of LGBTI persons, and with inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations, experts and advocates around the world in calling for the bill to be stopped.

As you know, the anti-gay bill would impose the death penalty for a second conviction of consensual sex between two people of the same gender. It would also require family members, medical personnel, clergy and others to report people they suspect of being gay to the authorities or face long sentences of imprisonment.

Whether or not the anti-gay bill becomes law, and whether or not the death penalty provision remains, the mere introduction of the bill has served to intensify a climate of hatred and persecution of the LGBTI community in Uganda. The persecution of Ugandans on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity has already cost lives and given rise to grave human rights violations. The bill must be stopped and the human rights of LGBTI people must be respected and protected.
 
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

H.E. Professor Perezi K. Kamunanwire

Ugandan Embassy to the United States

Fax:(202) 726-1727