Sponsors of Law Should be Pursued and Charged with Crimes Against Humanity
DELRAY BEACH, FL- Truth Wins Out harshly condemned a cruel and inhumane law that, if signed by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, would represent an eliminationist assault that seeks to erase LGBTQ people from public existence.
The law calls for life in prison for anyone engaging in same-sex relations. Even attempting to have gay sex is punished with a seven-year prison term. There is a provision for the death penalty for the vague “crime” of “aggravated homosexuality.” This is defined as gay sex acts committed by anyone infected with H.I.V., involving children, disabled people or anyone drugged for the purpose of same-sex activity.
The legislation imposes a penalty of up to $264,000 on any person or organization convicted of “promoting” homosexuality. Minors who are convicted of engaging in same-sex relations face up to three years in prison, along with a period of “rehabilitation”, which must be interpreted as the barbaric and ineffective practice known as conversion therapy.
“This sadistic law seeks to psychologically abuse and physically torture LGBTQ people in Uganda,” said Truth Wins Out Executive Director Wayne Besen. “If this sick law is enacted, the world must turn Uganda into a pariah state and the law’s sponsors must be hunted down and tried for crimes against humanity.
“That the law hides behind a legislative fig leaf and veils itself in the guise of cheap morality, doesn’t negate that its intention is to demonize, dehumanize and destroy the lives of its intended victims. Those behind this cruel act of heinous persecution are predators and they must pay severe consequences for their inhumanity and pathological desire to inflict harm on innocent people. The world must never forget that when unadulterated evil isn’t boldly confronted it metastasizes.”
The New York Times reports that on Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken urged the Ugandan government “to strongly reconsider the implementation of this legislation,” saying that it would undermine the rights of Ugandans and “could reverse gains” in the fight against H.I.V. and AIDS.
American Evangelicals are largely responsible for the Anti-Homosexuality Law. They went to Uganda to spread vicious lies and cause a moral panic over homosexuality. Truth Wins Out fought the original Anti-Homosexuality Bill in 2010. The organization hosted The American Prayer Hour, to draw attention to the National Prayer Breakfast, whose sponsors were going to Uganda to stir up hate and anti-LGBTQ propaganda.
Truth Wins Out educates the world on the harm caused by destructive “ex-gay” conversion programs, while fighting to eliminate anti-LGBTQ prejudice and discrimination. We believe that genuine freedom and contentment derive from authenticity and living one’s truth.