Reps. Mark Takano (D-California) and Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) introduced a resolution Wednesday condemning an anti-LGBTQ law in Uganda, according to Takano’s office.
“It is difficult to overstate the gross inhumanity of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Law,” Takano said in a press release on Thursday. “Instead of focusing on rooting out corruption or ending extrajudicial killings, Uganda’s Parliament, President and Constitutional Court have chosen to brand LGBTQ+ Ugandans as less than human.”
Uganda’s president signed the Anti-Homosexuality Law about a year ago, targeting those who have gay sex, threatening them with prison time.
“This shameful law is the latest development in an alarming trend of human rights abuses and corruption in Uganda. The dangers posed by this democratic backsliding are a threat to everyone residing in Uganda, including U.S. government personnel, the personnel of our implementing partners, tourists, members of the business community and others,” President Biden wrote after legislators approved the law.
Beatty said in the press release that the Anti-Homosexuality Act is “one of the harshest anti-LGBTQI+ laws the world has ever seen,” referring to it as “draconian.”
“This resolution shows that members of the United States Congress support LGBTQI+ Ugandans and demands the immediate repeal of this unjust law so that all Ugandans can lead safe, healthy lives free from fear,” said Beatty.
To go back in In December, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an expansion of the previous visa restriction policy aimed at “those believed to be responsible for or complicit in undermining the democratic process in Uganda,” to “officials or others” believed to be being behind or “complicit in policies or actions designed to repress members of marginalized or vulnerable populations.”
“These groups include, but are not limited to, environmental activists, human rights defenders, journalists, LGBTQI+ people and civil society organizers,” Blinken said in a statement. “Immediate family members of these individuals may also be subject to these restrictions.”
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