State Department: We Stand With Uganda’s LGBTs

Reuters reports:

Seven months after Brunei sparked international outcry over plans to impose the death penalty for gay sex, Uganda on Thursday said it would vote on a similar measure in parliament in the coming weeks. The European Union and the United States, which provide hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Uganda, said they opposed the death penalty and were closely following the matter.

“The U.S. firmly opposes criminalisation of LGBTI individuals. We stand with Uganda’s LGBTI community and Ugandans of all backgrounds and beliefs to defend the dignity of all citizens,” said a U.S. State Department official. Asked whether the US was considering cutting funding, the official said: “At this point, there has been no credible information that the government of Uganda is seriously considering introducing this bill.”

Around 85% of Ugandans are Christians. Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo, the bill’s sponsor, is a former Catholic priest and local media continues to refer to him as “Father Lokodo.”

@Openly scooped the world with the news that Uganda was to impose the death penalty for gay sex. A story we really, really didn’t want to break.

Now funders are questioning aid to Uganda. https://t.co/k1bDqzBEJD

— Hugo Greenhalgh (@hugo_greenhalgh) October 11, 2019