LGBT Community Under Attack: Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill

Date:

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 2:00 PM

Location:

2172 Rayburn House Office Building

Hearing Notice

On October 14, 2009, an “Anti-Homosexuality Bill” was introduced by Uganda’s parliament. The bill as drafted would increase the penalty for “same sex sexual acts” to life in prison, limit the distribution of information on HIV through a provision criminalizing the “promotion of homosexuality,” and establish the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by death for anyone who is HIV positive and has consensual same-sex relations. Further, the bill includes a provision that could lead to the imprisonment for up to three years of anyone who fails to report without 24 hours the identities of everyone they know who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or who supports human rights for people who are, to the government.

After an international outcry over the bill, including a strong response from the U.S. Department of State, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni states in a speech on January 13, 2010, that the bill had become a “foreign policy issue” and needed further consultation before being voted on in parliament.

If you have any questions, please contact Hans Hogrefe (Rep. McGovern) at 202-225-3599.

Hosted by:

James P. McGovern
Member of Congress
Co-Chair, TLHRC

Witnesses

Panel 1

Karl Wycoff, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Centra African Affairs and East African Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Panel 2

Julius Kaggwa, Program Director, Support Initiative for People with Atypical Sex Development, Uganda
Cary Alan Johnson, Executive Director, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Reverend Kapya Kaoma, Project Director, Political Research Associates
Christine Lubinski, Executive Director, HIV Medicine Association, Infectious Diseases Society of America

Meeting Documents

Transcript

Accessibility

The Commission seeks to make its events, meetings and hearings accessible to persons with disabilities.

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Questions with regard to special accommodations in general (including availability of Commission materials in alternative formats and assistive listening devices, sign language interpretation, etc.) may be directed to the Commission.