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House of Representatives Introduces Resolution Condemning Uganda’s “Kill The Gays” Bill

Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on February 4, 2010.

February 2, 2010- by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Representative Howard L. Berman (D-CA) has introduced a resolution condemning Uganda’s anti-homosexual bill. The bill dubbed “Kill the Gays” bill would execute people for being gay if they have HIV/AIDS or were convicted of aggravated homosexuality. The bill has drawn a great deal of condemnation from a variety of world governments and threatened to derail an oil deal which has only just been approved by Uganda’s government. It is likely that the bill was intended to scapegoat gays and lesbians in Uganda while the country set up the oil field and displaced some thirty thousand people.

The resolution is intended to, according to the wording on it, “[express] the sense of the House of Representatives that the ‘‘Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009’’ under consideration by the Parliament of Uganda, that would impose long term imprisonment and the death penalty for certain acts, threatens the protection of fundamental human rights, and for other purposes.”

H. Res. 1064, or House Resolution 1064, has more than three dozen sponsors including Representatives Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Barbara Lee. The resolution brings up several points regarding this legislation including the fact that it would make it nearly impossible for Uganda to effectively combat HIV/AIDS by further marginalizing gay men, and that it would nullify a variety of treaties that Uganda has already entered into regarding the treatment of gays and lesbians. This bill would also violate the current jurisdictional notions of what is considered to be an extraditable offense. Currently, only crimes such as terrorism and treason are considered to fall into extra-territorial jurisdiction.

Further underlying just how much of a problem this particular legislation would be to curbing HIV/AIDS in Uganda, the resolution notes that “countries whose laws do not criminalize homosexuality are generally regarded as better able to curb the transmission of the virus, and the ability to more effectively address HIV was a pivotal factor in the recent decision of the High Court of New Delhi to repeal section 337 of the Indian penal code outlawing sodomy” HIV/AIDS is one of the leading killers in Africa, and is considered to be responsible for much of the economic problems that Uganda faces currently.

The resolution also points out that many American and non-American politicians have called on Uganda’s government to kill this bill.