Uganda plans to kill gays again: Tourism alarmed and Joe Biden has a message

Uganda to re-introduce ‘Kill the gays’ law
Uganda's Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo

Uganda has deadly threats for the LGBT Community again. As consequence tourism may face a new call for a boycott. The government of Uganda has announced plans to reintroduce a bill, dubbed by the locals ‘Kill the gays’ law.

When a similar bill was introduced in 2013 calls for boycotting travel and tourism to this East African Country became louder. In March 2014, at a CNN event at the ITB Trade Show in Berlin, the CEO of the Uganda Tourism Bureau Stephen Asiimwe was under fire after eTN reported on a call to boycott travel to Uganda.

Richard Quest of CNN told Assimwe Uganda was the last country he would consider visiting as a gay man.

Mr. Asiimwe discussed the issue candidly with eTN publisher Juergen  Steinmetz and Richard Quest in Berlin. “The result of this very frank discussion was the official statement by the Uganda Tourism Board to guarantee the safety of gay tourists to Uganda and went even a step further in welcoming LGBTQ travelers to enjoy the beauty of their tourism destination,” said the eTN publisher.

According to Mr. Asiimwe,  no gay visitor to our country will be harassed. “We welcome all visitors and condemn a tourist for the only reason that he or she may be gay. Cultural policies are important in Uganda. We ask visitors to respect them. They include touching in public for example,” he told eTN.”

Five years later the Uganda legislation is again paving the way for the execution of homosexual people. This legislation is expected to be re-introduced ‘within weeks’, according to government officials. Five years ago the bill was thrown out by the constitutional court on a technicality.

Currently, Ugandans face life imprisonment if convicted of having sex with another person of the same gender.

Ethics and Integrity Minister Simon Lokodo said the bill is being reintroduced because of allegedly “massive recruitment of gay people” and current laws are too limited in scope.

“We want it made clear that anyone who is even involved in promotion and recruitment has to be criminalized,” he said. “Those that do grave acts will be given the death sentence.”

The minister said he’s confident the measure will get the backing of the two-thirds of parliamentary members required to pass a bill.

Several countries cut their financial support and aid to Uganda when the ‘Kill the gays’ bill was first brought forward in 2014, but Lokodo said the country is prepared to stand up to a fresh backlash over the legislation, adding “we don’t like blackmail.”

Today presidential US Democratic candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden told CNN viewers if he was elected president, he would open a US State Department section to sanction countries for violating human rights for LGBT people anywhere in the world.

In March, Brunei introduced an amendment to its Islamic penal code that included stoning gay people to death but suspended the measure following an international outcry.

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Chief Assignment Editor

Chief Assignment editor is Oleg Siziakov

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